


Don't Make A Sound

by Adorable Anarchist (Vampbi)



Series: Present:Past:Future [1]
Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Canonical Character Death, Dinosaurs, Implied Peter/Elias kinda?, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pre-Slash, Primeval AU, RQBB, Rusty Quill Big Bang, Rusty Quill Big Bang 2020, Time Travel, not sure if the violence is graphic or not just being safe with the tag
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-29
Updated: 2020-08-29
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:00:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 25,911
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26177611
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vampbi/pseuds/Adorable%20Anarchist
Summary: The last thing Jon expected when investigating a magnetic anomaly in the woods was a dinosaur. The last thing he expected when he saw the dinosaur was to be recruited to work for the Anomaly Research Centre (or ARC) and chase down even more dinosaurs.A Primeval AU with pre-slash JM!
Relationships: Martin Blackwood/Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist
Series: Present:Past:Future [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1902427
Comments: 6
Kudos: 16
Collections: Rusty Quill Big Bang 2020





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> WELCOME TO MY DINOSAUR NONSENSE!!! I think this may be the most self-indulgent thing I've ever written.
> 
> My artist was the lovely bag-chips (found [here](https://bag-chips.tumblr.com) and [here](https://twitter.com/cluckadooodle) ) Who was just beyond amazing to work with!
> 
> [Art post here!!!](https://bag-chips.tumblr.com/post/627806915031941120/dont-make-a-sound-chapter-1-adorable)

.

Martin was pretty sure that the escaped Nile Monitor he was looking for was long gone. He'd been searching the woods for a little over an hour and he'd not seen any trace of it. This was not how he wanted to spend his last day as a zookeeper. He'd been unbelievably lucky when he'd lied his was into that particular job, but he'd actually been quite good at it he'd thought! Not good enough to keep around after the budget cuts though.

Something sharp pricked Martin's arm and he bit back a curse. The day was just getting better and better. His footsteps crunched through forest floor, the wet earthy smell of growing thing was pleasant at least, something nice to offset Martin's misery. He had absolutely no qualifications for any sort of job that would pay decently and there was no way he'd be able to be as lucky as before with his lying. The knowledge and dread weighed heavy on him, making every footstep feel heavier somehow. 

It was kind of pathetic, his mother didn't even want to see him or acknowledge he existed and yet here he was centering his life around what he could or couldn't do to send more money her way. Self hatred churned his stomach and he kept walking.

Truthfully, Martin wasn't even really looking for the lizard anymore, he was to wrapped up in his own misery. A part of him that wasn't slogging through the negative emotions swamping him did wish the Nile Monitor luck in it's new, free life. He didn't know how long it could realistically last out here nor was he sure about how much damage one escaped Nile Monitor would cause, but.....there wasn't anything left he could do about that. Maybe the zoo would send somebody else out the next day, maybe the owner would continue the search. Maybe. The owner hadn't really struck Martin as the sort of person to actually....care....about his pets. Which was infuriating, but tearing into the guy for his carelessness hadn't been high on Martin's priorities list that morning.

The birds continued tweeting and calling to each other as they flitted through the air or sat on tree branches. It was easy for Martin to get lost in his thoughts and when he finally actually looked at his surroundings he found he was lost in the woods as well. Which was annoying, but not to alarming. Many people walked through these woods and it was filled with paths so he was pretty sure if he kept walking, now actually paying attention to his surroundings, he could find his way to something that would lead him out and back to his truck.

As he walked Martin's brain kept trying to pull him back into the swirl of misery he'd been dwelling on before, but he resolutely kept not thinking about any of that. He thought about how well the various plants were growing, how cute that squirrel was, how nice the birdsong sounded. He wasn't going to think about any of his problems until he was back home because there was nothing he could do about them anyway damnit! He did not think about his mother. He _did not_ think about his mother!

The downward spiral of his thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a loud roar cracking through the air and silencing everything in it wake for a terrifying second. When the usual noises of the forest returned they returned double as everything called out in fear. Martin felt that same frantic fear like ice in his veins, branching through him and freezing him to the stop. All at once the ice melted and he started breathing again. He had....he had never heard a bear roar like that, but what else could it have been? Maybe someone had some sort of ill-advised exotic pet? Maybe?

Whatever is was Martin didn't particularly want to stick around and find out. He started walking as fast as he could while not technically running, heart pounding so loud and hard in his chest that he was almost sure something would have to give out. He scanned his surroundings as carefully as he could while still moving quickly and tried to remind himself that most large animals would leave you alone unless you provoked them. He was fine, this was all going to be fine, he would find his way back to his truck and he would be _fine_.

His head started spinning and he realized he wasn't breathing properly. Martin slowed his pace and tried to focus and breathing, counting the seconds as he inhaled and exhaled, but his head kept spinning and a tingly fuzzy feeling began to grow. There was no way he could run from or fight off anything like this!

Martin stopped and leaned his back against a tree, the prickly feeling of the bark through his shirt was somewhat grounding. He focused all his attention on a spot on the ground and just breathed. A warm, sticky feeling oozing down the tree and getting soaked up by his shirt distracted him. He assumed it was sap and kept breathing until things stopped spinning so much and he could think again. Unfortunately, being able to think again meant he remember the proper texture and temperature of sap and whatever now covered his back and was dripping onto his shoulders and head....was not sap.

Feeling like he was trapped in some nightmare Martin took a slow step away from the tree. His shirt pulled and stuck to the bark, the warm, wet substance cooled and hardened as his shirt peeled away from his back and then from the tree. He turned around and sure enough the bark was stained red with rivers of blood. Martin's breathing quickly spiraled out of control once again, he was now hyper-aware of the way his shirt clung to his back and shoulders, how bits of his hair were slicked down. Slowly he turned his eyes upwards to see just what creature he was covered in the blood of. When he saw his stomach dropped and he involuntarily let out a short scream and stumbled backwards, horror gripping his heart like a vice.

In the branches of the tree was what was left of a human. Their chest had been crushed and ripped open, splinters of of bones visible through the mangled flesh. One lung hand been pulled almost all the way out of the chest, spongy material still oozing blood. One of the legs was missing, only a bloody shattered stump remained, and the other was bent in ways no leg should ever bend. The dull, lifeless eyes were open and staring directly at Martin in a way that seemed to condemn him for having leaned on this tree, for having had the audacity to catch his breath under where this person's brutalized remains were tangled in the tree branches. The lower jaw was also missing leaving a broken, gaping wound.

Martin's lunch made a quick reappearance and disappeared into a bush to feed whatever scavengers found it later.

Eyes wide and full of pricking tears fueled by panic, Martin looked around for what, or who, could've done this. Did some have and let loose a particularly vicious leopard? Was there some sort of murder on the loose? Was this connected to the roar? Was Martin to be the next victim? His mind threw all sort of horrific scenarios at him, telling him how it would feel to be ripped to pieces and shoved in a tree to bleed out alone and hopeless.

Sense returned to him and Martin shoved his hand into his pocket, hoping to grab his phone and call for help. His pocket was empty though and his heart dropped. Ludicrously his first thought was that he couldn't afford a new phone. Then he remembered leaving on the dash of his truck to charge and he wanted to slap himself for leaving it there. What the _fuck_ had he been thinking?!

Martin looked back at the mangled body in the tree once more before walking away quickly. Walking through the woods was much more harrowing this time. Martin felt himself startle and jump at every noise. Every bird call, every snap of a twig, every shift in the bushes. His nerves were fairly frayed and he really wished he were literally anywhere else. He cursed his luck, he cursed his coworkers, he cursed himself, he cursed the universe. He didn't want to die in the woods, killed by some escaped exotic pet or a crazed murderer.

A movement in the corner of his eye made Martin freeze. He'd been freezing in fear every few seconds so that wasn't weird, what was weird was the fact that through the trees, eating a deer, was something. It was about the size of a large bear, its head was long and had teeth curving wickedly out of it. It was a muddy colour, was on four legs and....and it was clearly, impossibly, a Gorgonopsid.

Martin knew a fair bit about prehistoric creatures. It was something he'd been deeply interested in for awhile. So his guess that he was looking at a Gorgonopsid was an educated one, but it was completely nonsensical. They had lived during the late Permian period for god's sake! So, no, it couldn't possibly actually be a Gorgonopsid, it just- it just looked exactly like one somehow.

Something small hit the side of Martin's head and he bit his tongue to choke back a scream. His nerves were completely fried and alerting the- the thing that _wasn't_ a Gorgonopsid was the last thing he wanted to do.

He looked up, half expecting to see a Weigeltisaurus in the trees. Instead, he saw three people gesturing frantically at him. So Martin quickly climbed the sturdiest looking tree near him and he ended up in the same one as one of the three people, the other two perched in a nearby tree.

So now he was stuck in the trees with these strangers hiding from a creature that, based on the deer earlier, could definitely climb trees. Suffice to say the constant panic attack Martin had suffered through since the roar had not eased.

~

Jon was nearing the end of his patience with Tim. He and Sasha had needed a ride out to the woods and her friend Tim had a car, yes, but certainly he hadn't needed to tag along on their search for whatever magnetic anomaly supposedly occupied the forest? Jon didn't look up from the needle of his compass, which was not pointing north, while Tim and Sasha chatted behind him, laughing about something or other. The part of Jon that had never truly recovered from school worried they were laughing at him. A worry he squashed down as thoroughly as he could.

After a few more minutes of walking, Jon felt the magnetic field increase in intensity, tugging at the compass in his hand. Heart speeding up Jon quickened his pace, wanting to find the anomaly as quickly as possible. People had reported their keys flying out of their hands, necklaces and bracelets coming loose and disappearing into the woods. So, surely, there had to be some sort of source of the magnetic force and Jon wanted to find it.

"Hey, what's the hurry?" Tim asked, speeding up as well.

"Did you see something?" Sasha jogged to his side, looking at their surroundings.

"Maybe...I think-" Jon stopped speaking as he stepped into a clearing.

"Woah." Sasha breathed.

"What is it?" Tim asked.

"I have no idea." Sasha shook her head.

"We- we actually found it." Jon was in disbelief.

In front of them, hovering in the clearing, was a glowing, fragmented, orb. It's shards reflected the glow from its center and swirled around in a mesmerizing dance. Jon had never seen anything like it before. He felt a bit like a moth being drawn towards a deadly flame as he walked forwards to get a closer look. Similarly, Sasha began to circle the anomaly, expression awed.

"Crazy theory, but do you think it's alien?" Tim asked.

"Don't be ridiculous," Jon said harshly, though internally he really wasn't sure what to think.

"Don't be mean." Sasha chided, "I don't think it's alien, no. It's kinda a sphere, isn't it?"

"A lot of UFO stories talk about glowing spheres is all I'm saying." Tim raised his hands in mock surrender.

Jon ignored him. Something about the anomaly.....He raised his hand, almost in a trance as he reached out to touch it.

"Woah!" Sasha grabbed his arm and pulled it back, "Let's not touch the mysterious anomaly!"

Jon shook his head, snapping out of it.

"Right, yes. I- I wasn't going to-" He stuttered to a stop as Sasha raised an eyebrow at him.

Trying to bury his embarrassment at being caught almost sticking his arm into the anomaly, he pulled out his compass again. He could feel the magnetic pull on it had increased quite a bit now that he was standing next to the anomaly. Out of curiosity, he let it go. The compass flew out of his hand and disappeared into the center of the anomaly.

"Holy shit! That's pretty cool!" Tim bounced a bit with excitement and Jon couldn't help smiling a bit.

Then Tim pulled out his keys and gleefully watched as they too flew into the anomaly. After a second his face dropped.

"Wait, no! Those were my keys...."

Jon has to try very hard to stifle his laughter, Sasha clearly not doing much better than him.

"Yeah, haha. I need those keys to drive you chuckleheads home."

"Ah." Jon stopped laughing.

There was a long pause where they all just stared at the anomaly.

"We could....fish them out with something?" Sasha suggested.

Before any of them could respond to that thought a roar shook the air, terrifying and loud. Jon clamped his hands over his ears and felt his heart speed up and pound so hard in his chest it felt like it might explode. Tim and Sasha cringed away from the sound as well. As suddenly as it had begun though it stopped, leaving to forest silent for a moment before the usual noises started up once again.

"What was that?!" Sasha hissed.

"Nothing I've ever heard before. Jon?" Tim replied, equally quiet.

"How would I know?" Jon asked, finding he was too fearful to raise his voice above a whisper even if he had wanted to.

"I don't know! You just hadn't said anything yet."

"Yes, I was to busy recovering from my eardrums shattering."

"Whatever it is, it sounded close." Sasha interrupted.

Horrifyingly, she was right. Jon glanced at the other two before taking a slow step backwards. Tim and Sasha nodded at him and with that, they decided to slowly make their way out of the clearing and back into the trees. After a few minutes at a snail's pace, Tim started walking a little faster, seeming more confident than before. Jon and Sasha matched his pace. Whatever had made that sound wasn't something Jon wanted to meet.

They made their way through the woods in silence, occasionally glancing at each other. Jon didn't feel any calmer than he had before despite slowly walking about from the clearing that housed the anomaly. He felt trapped, like a mouse who knew that somewhere in that room, just out of sight, was a cat. He could still feel his heartbeat in every part of his body and a part of him absurdly worried about atrial fibrillation.

The trio's slow progress was halted when Sasha threw out an arm to stop the other two. Jon looked at her, confused and she nodded her head to the side. Dread clawed at his lungs as he turned his head to see what Sasha had spotted.

Lumbering through the trees was something like Jon had never seen before. It's muddy skin blended into the surrounding trees, it's feet landed heavily on the ground, and its teeth....good lord, its teeth were massive. _All the better to eat you with, my dear._ An irritating part of Jon's brain whispered as his eyes stayed fixated on those teeth.

Those teeth were soon fixed around the neck of a frantic deer. It's legs kicked out wildly in terror even as the creature bit down, even as the sounds of splintering bones echoed through the trees. Jon's heart dropped as the legs finally went limp. Tim tapped him on the shoulder and with some effort, Jon managed to turn away from the gruesome sight. Tim pointed up at the trees and it took a second for Jon's brain to catch up properly before he nodded. And so the three of them scrambled up into the trees, doing their best to be silent. Tim and Sasha ended up in one and Jon in another.

They all looked at each other, Jon could see in his companions faces that they were just as shaken as him. 

"What the fuck is that?!" Tim hissed.

Sasha just shook her head, eyes fixed on the creature.

"It looks like some sort of dinosaur." Jon felt stupid even suggesting it, but he couldn't think of anything else.

"How could it possibly be a dinosaur?" Tim asked.

"It can't be! I'm just saying what it looks like!"

"Well, knowing what it looks like doesn't really help us, does it?"

"Do you have any more useful information?"

Tim didn't answer.

"Didn't think so."

"Guys, there's someone down there," Sasha whispered, ending Tim and Jon's argument.

Sure enough, below them was a man staring at the creature with wide eyes. He was covered in blood, which was more than a little alarming, but he seemed unhurt, which was maybe even more alarming. Still, they couldn't just let him _die_. Jon looked to Sasha and Tim and saw Sasha had grabbed some pebbles that were lodged in the tree branches. She tossed them at him and missed every time. Jon looked around, finding only small branches which he broke off as quickly and quietly as he could and threw them down as well. But his aim had never been the best and he missed as well. Tim was the one who finally hit the man with a small rock and got him to look up.

After some frantic gesturing the man climbed up Jon's tree and balanced easily on a thick branch. Once he was close Jon saw the blood that was matting down his hair and he really hoped the man didn't have a head wound. 

"Bad day for a walk, huh?" Tim joked, but it fell flat.

"Uh, yeah. Is- does that look like a Gorgonopsid to anyone else?" The man asked.

"A what?" Tim asked.

"It's a prehistoric synapsid from South Africa in the late Permian era. So there's no way that's what that is, right?" The man explained.

Jon had to try to not look too smug at that. It was a life or death situation, he reminded himself that winning arguments wasn't worth anything.

"I don't know...It's not the first impossible thing we've seen today." Sasha shrugged.

After that the group lapsed into silence while they waited for the Gorgonopsid thing to finish its meal. Jon wished it would hurry up and leave so he could go back to the anomaly. He was fully convinced that the appearance of this prehistoric creature had to be tied to the anomaly, but he didn't know exactly how and not knowing was irritating.

The wet crunching sounds of the Gorgonopsid eating were extremely unpleasant and were another reason Jon wished it would hurry up and leave. He looked over at the others and found them all just as transfixed on the creature as they were before. Jon turned back to watching it eat.

Finally, it finished its meal and lumbered off into the woods. As soon as Jon could no longer hear it's heavy footsteps he climbed down the tree, relieved to feel his feet touch solid ground.

"What are you doing?" Tim asked, looking down at Jon with the others.

"Relax, it's gone. I want to go back to the anomaly."

"What?" Tim was evidently not satisfied with that answer.

"You think it's connected?" Sasha asked.

"It's the only thing that makes sense." Jon shrugged.

"Sorry, what anomaly?" The man who's name they still hadn't gotten asked.

"It's a glowing- look, just follow us and you'll see." Tim half explained before climbing down the tree.

Sasha followed him fairly quickly and, after a moment's hesitation, the other man joined them.

"Right, now that we're no longer about to be killed....I'm Tim, this is Sasha and the grumpy one is Jon." Tim gestured at each of them as he spoke.

"Oh, I'm Martin. Martin Blackwood." The man, Martin, introduced himself.

"Welcome to the team, Martin!" Tim said, grinning.

"Yes, yes. Can we get back to the anomaly now?" Jon asked, trying and failing not to sound too irritated.

"Lead on, boss."

Finally, they made their way back through the trees towards the anomaly. Jon didn't really have a plan on how to find out if the Gorgonopsid and the anomaly were connected, but it seemed as good a place to start as any. After all, what were the odds the two strange happenings were completely unrelated?

In only a couple of minutes, they were back at the clearing. Jon sped up slightly, feeling almost drawn to the anomaly. He wanted, no, he needed to figure out just what was going on here.

The glow of the anomaly shone on the surrounding trees, bathing the clearing in an unearthly light. It was just as breathtaking as before. Jon could hear Martin gasp behind him, but he was already moving towards the anomaly, ignoring his surroundings.

"What is it?"

"Some sort of magnetic anomaly. It's beautiful, isn't it?"

"Yeah."

Jon was almost at the anomaly before the others clued into what his plan was. He ignored their shouts to stop, hesitating for only a moment when directly in front of the anomaly before taking a deep breath and stepping inside.

It wasn't one of his smartest ideas and in for a moment that seemed to stretch on forever, unending nothingness surrounding him, pulling the air from his lungs, freezing him, ripping into his being...At that moment Jon kind of regretted his course of action. It was over as soon as it started though, and he found himself stumbling forward on solid ground, sucking in the hot, dry air greedily despite it being no time at all since his last breath.

It took Jon a second to regain his barrings, but when he could finally look around any regrets he'd had melted away and were replaced with awe.

A river cut through the dusty ground, several large lizards were drinking calmly, not at all disturbed by the sudden appearance of a human. There were more, smaller, lizards basking on large rocks jutting out from the ground. Some of the smaller lizards glided happily through the air, calling out to each other with chittering sounds. There were a few trees scattered about, but mostly it seemed like Jon had gone from a forest to a desert.

So, that more or less confirmed that the anomaly was some sort of rip in time. Jon felt a little pleased with himself, sometimes his more impulsive actions were good ideas! Or at least, he hoped this had been a good idea. There was always the possibility that time travel would have major consequences. But before he could dwell on that too much, it fully sunk in that he was probably the first human ever to see this, the ancient past.

Jon couldn't help but laugh out loud at that. He had travelled through time! Him!! It was almost too much and he wrapped his arms around himself to try and feel at least some sense of stability. It didn't really work. His mind was to busy swimming with all that had happened.

Something to his right growled and he jumped, surprise and fear bolting through him, but when he turned his head Jon saw that it was just a small quarrel between dinosaurs. He suddenly wished he'd bothered to remember anything he'd learned about dinosaurs. It hadn't seemed relevant so he'd simply chosen to forget most of it to make room in his brain for things that had seemed more important. Knowing everything there is to know about emulsifiers suddenly seemed a lot less useful than knowing literally anything about the flying lizards circling overhead.

Jon shook his head and made a mental note to do some research later. He turned to go back through the anomaly but paused when he saw movement in the distance. 

For a moment, he wanted to dismiss it at another prehistoric creature, but once he was looking at it Jon saw that it was clearly a person, walking along at a casual pace. For a moment he was disappointed he wasn't the first person to have travelled to the past, but that disappointment was quickly replaced with curiosity. It would probably be smarter to go back through the anomaly without drawing attention to himself, but...

"HEY!" Jon shouted.

The figure stopped in their tracks and turned to look at Jon. For one unsettling moment, he felt like he was a piece of prey being stared at by something that wanted nothing more to destroy him. The moment passed and Jon did his best to shrug off the feeling, with little success. Still, he was about to shout something else when the figure turned and continued their journey, clearly uninterested in their fellow time traveler. 

Jon didn't want to waste any more time on the figure, still feeling deeply unsettled, and quickly went back through the anomaly. The travel back was just as horrible and exhilarating as the first time, only this time when he was through he was quickly pulled into a tight embrace, which was alarming for a second before he heard Sasha's voice. And Tim's and Martin's all shouting at him.

"Jon! You idiot what were you-"

"-Appreciate the bravery, but-"

"-Can't believe someone would-"

"I know what the anomalies are!" Jon announced, hoping it would end the shouting.

Sasha let go of him at that and gestured for him to continue. Jon took a second to look at their faces and realized that Sasha wasn't the only one who'd been worried. That was.....surprising. Still, he figured it was best to do what Sasha requested and explain.

"On the other side of the anomaly was the ancient past so- so it has to be some sort of tear in time. Or maybe a wormhole? Honestly, there are several possibilities for what exactly it is, but the thing to focus on now is that it is somehow a- a portal? To the past. The Gorgonopsid must've come through it."

Shocked silence for a moment before Tim spoke up.

"Okay. That's.....A lot. But, if the Gorgon thing did come through that all we have to do is get it back through, right?"

"How? How could we possibly do that?" Sasha countered, waving an arm for emphasis.

Tim didn't answer.

"Yeah. That's what I thought."

"Well, we have to do something!" Tim argued.

Martin raised his hand slowly, looking nervous.

"Uh, I might have an idea?"

~

When they had said something about a glowing anomaly, Martin hadn't been picturing the floating orb of light, shining on the clearing, looking like something alien. He felt transfixed, staring at it like it held the secrets of the universe, which he had a weird feeling it might. He also had a weird feeling about how quickly Jon was walking toward it.

"Hold on-"

"Jon! What are you doing?"

Jon didn't react at all to Tim and Sasha's calls and instead walked directly into the anomaly with only a second's hesitation. Martin felt his jaw drop in reaction to that. There was no way that was a good idea.

"Oh my god."

Sasha just screamed quietly, frustration bleeding from the sound. Martin managed to tear his eyes away from the anomaly to look at the two people he had found himself trapped in this strange dream of a day with.

"Do you think he's...." Tim trailed off, he could not more clearly not want to finish that sentence.

"No." Sasha said firmly before adding a less sure, "At least, I hope not. We'll- we'll wait."

"Right. Okay." Tim nodded and both continued to stare at the anomaly.

Martin felt so far out of place, he had no idea who these people were and he may or may not have just watched a man die. Not to mention the Gorgonopsid running around. So he took a breath and decided to do what he did best. Desperately trying to make conversation.

"So, uh, how do you all know each other?"

It's a ridiculous question and he regretted it as soon as he spoke, but Tim took pity on him and answered it anyway.

"Oh, I don't really know Jon. Sasha's a friend though and when she mentioned all the weird magnet stuff happening in these woods I decided I had to tag along." He shrugged.

Sasha smiled a bit before adding, "That and you're our ride."

There was a quiet second before she continued, still not taking her eyes off the anomaly.

"Jon and I are kind of tech buddies? I mostly do stuff with software, Jon is amazing at actually building stuff though. I'm pretty sure he could build literally anything he put his mind towards."

"That's really cool," Martin said, honestly impressed.

Sasha laughed a bit, "I guess? Anyway, not to be a downer, but we have to figure out what to do now."

"Are we done waiting? That wasn't long." Tim snarked.

Sasha lightly hit his shoulder, shaking her head.

"No, dumbass. I mean about the...." She looked at Martin who only took a second to realize what she was trying to say.  
"The Gorgonopsid?"

"Yes! The Gorgonopsid."

Martin doesn't say it aloud, but he thought the anomaly disappeared Jon pretty well so if all else fails.....He would rather not send it to its doom, obviously, but there wasn't a place for a Gorgonopsid in the modern-day and sadly the risk it posed to everything else was more than Martin could accept. He still really didn't want to hurt it though. It was lost and alone in a place it didn't understand and it was just doing what it needed to survive. Maybe a well-equipped zoo could take it? Martin couldn't see that ending in a way that _wasn't_ reminiscent of Jurassic Park though.

His thoughts were interrupted by the anomaly pulsing with light once before Jon stepped out, alive and seemingly unharmed if a little dazed. Sasha rushed forward, followed closely by Tim and Martin.

"Jon! You idiot what were you thinking?!" Sasha shouted as she pulled Jon into a tight hug.

"I really appreciate the bravery, but jumping headfirst into the anomaly?" Tim shook his head.

"I can't believe someone-" Martin started, but was cut off by Jon.

"I know what the anomalies are!"

Jon explained what he learned and Martin felt like the only reason he wasn't just completely in shock was that he'd already been through so much already in one day. Time travel? Sure! Why not! It made as much sense as anything else!

Once Jon finished speaking, Tim and Sasha began arguing over what to do. Martin was only half paying attention though because through the trees Martin sees the Gorgonopsid. It was fully focused on climbing a tree rather than on them, which Martin is thankful for. 

"Uh, I might have an idea?" He slowly suggested and the others turned to look at him.

Martin took a second to collect his thoughts and found that he really did have an idea. Thank god.

"We, uh, circle around it and I have a flare gun? Maybe that'll startle it back through." It wasn't an amazing plan, but it was the only plan he had.

"And how're we supposed to get it back here?" Tim asked.

Martin decided to answer by silently pointing behind the others. He saw the blood drain from their faces even before they turned their heads to see the Gorgonopsid, now snacking on its deer carcass.

"Okay, anyone have a better plan?" Sasha whispered.

Jon and Tim shook their heads in response. Martin really wished they'd had a better plan.

After some more whispered discussion the four of them spread out to enact Martin's terrible plan. Martin wished he were doing literally anything else as he slowly crept forward, placing the Gorgonopsid between himself and the anomaly. The metallic smell of blood was thick and through it had never bothered Martin before, it was now turning his stomach. He took a deep breath through his mouth, feeling as though he could taste the blood in the air, and readied his flare gun. He was completely certain that he was about to die.

"NOW!" He shouted a split second before firing.

At his shout Jon, Tim and Sasha blasted the loudest music they had on their phones and the Gorgonopsid's head shot up only to be hit in the face by Martin's flare. It screamed in pain and despite his terror, Martin felt bad for the thing. It did take off running back towards the clearing though. Martin held his breath as it approached the anomaly. If it didn't go back through.....

But it did! The Gorgonopsid ran back through the anomaly and into its proper time. The others turned off their music and for a moment there was silence.

Then all four burst into cheers and laughter, rushing forward to hug each other with excitement. Martin felt dizzy from the rush of adrenaline coursing through him. Everything was sharp, clear colours and sounds. Never before had he felt as alive as he did at that moment.

"We did it!" Tim shouted.

"I know!" Sasha and Jon replied at the same time, Martin was still too busy laughing breathlessly to form words.

"We're dinosaur hunters!" Tim cheered, throwing his arms in the air.

They all laughed at that, at the absurdity of it all. Martin could hardly believe his horrible plan had worked! It had worked and they were alive! They collapsed in the grass in the clearing, overwhelmed.

Eventually, they calmed down enough that the four of them were just sprawled out on the ground, quietly smiling to themselves. Martin didn't particularly want that moment to ever end, but Jon spoke up to say what they were all thinking.

"What do we do now?"


	2. Chapter 2

They decided that since they didn’t know when, how or if the anomaly would close someone should keep an eye on it for now. It was also decided that since they'll be keeping an eye on it they need some supplies. Martin and Jon were picked to go get those supplies. Jon wasn't sure why he had to be one of the people fetching things, it wasn't like he had a spare tent at home, but he supposed that's just how his luck worked. Short straw and all that.

It took a few minutes of walking before Martin admitted that he had no idea where he was and therefore didn't know where his truck was. Jon did his best not to be irritated by that, after all, it was Martin's plan that solved the Gorgonopsid problem, but he was a little irritated. Jon directed them to a path and once Martin assured him that he could find his truck from here they continued on in silence.

Jon felt like it was probably rude to continue in silence so he tried to think of literally anything he could say that was unrelated to the dinosaur thing. There wasn't a whole lot that came to mind that was unrelated to dinosaurs though so he sighed and resigned himself to continued rudeness.

"So, Sasha said you were good at building stuff?"

Jon was so relieved that Martin was the one starting the conversation that he was happy to latch on to the nothing topic.

"Yes. I don't trust a lot of the tech on the market so I do my best to build what I need." Jon winced internally as soon as he said it.

Yes, good, let this person you just met and who is stuck with you know you're a paranoid freak. Good job. Martin didn't seem phased though and continued speaking.

"What, like you built your own phone and stuff like that?" He tilted his head a little as he looked at Jon.

"I did build my own phone. And computer, and laptop, and robot vacuum, and microwave and....other things." Jon elaborated, gesturing a little as he spoke.

"Woah."

"I know, I must be either extremely paranoid or have to much time on my hands or both." Jon finished off his weak attempt at a joke with an equally weak laugh.

"Maybe, but I think that's really neat." Martin shrugged.

Jon couldn't help but feel pleasantly surprised. He has no idea how to respond though so he just smiled. Martin smiled back and Jon felt warm at the sight.

"How- uh- What is it you....do?" Jon tried to ask, wincing as he spoke.

Martin continued to breeze past Jon's awkwardness and didn't hesitate to reply.

"I'm a zookeeper! Or was a zookeeper. Funding was cut and what do they need one more reptile keeper for?" Martin laughed weakly.

"Oh. You like reptiles?" Jon wanted to keep this to safe topics and joblessness was not one of those.

Martin smiled again at least so Jon counted it as a win.

"Yep! My favourite is this one Burmese python! She's the laziest lump of a snake ever." Martin chuckled fondly before lighting up, "I also work with the arachnids! Spiders are just so- so cute!"

Jon wanted to argue against that, but he was trying not to be rude so he bit his tongue and let Martin continue talking about the various animals he worked with. Some of it was quite interesting and some of it was about spiders and made Jon want to be literally anywhere else. The burden of conversation was no longer on his shoulders though, and getting to not speak was worth a little nausea. A little. If Martin started focusing entirely on spiders Jon might have to bolt.

Soon enough they reached Martin's truck. Or, now that Jon could see it, the zoo's truck that Martin was using. The decal on the side gave that much away. Still, it served their purposes and they climbed in. 

Martin continued speaking as they drove, less about spiders now and more about his various coworkers and their animal stories. Jon was still perfectly happy to let him do all the talking. He looked out the window at the horizon and let Martin's stories about shoe-stealing penguins and picky snakes wash over him. It was nice until Martin abruptly stopped speaking. Jon turned to look at him and was surprised to see he was blushing.

"Sorry, I'm sure you didn't want to hear all of that." Martin apologized needlessly.

"It's fine," Jon said.

Still, Martin kept quiet and they drove in silence. Jon missed the chatter a bit but didn't feel the need to do anything to invite it back. Instead, he allowed himself to get lost in his own thoughts.

There had been another person in the past. That in itself was concerning, of course, but Jon mostly wondered how they had gotten there. Another anomaly? How many anomalies could there be? They didn't seem like they'd been stuck in the past, they had turned away from Jon when he'd called out and if you were trapped in prehistory surely you'd be glad to see another person. It seemed like a stretch, but....could it be possible this person could navigate the anomalies somehow? Jon wished he had more information, but the chances he'd ever see this mystery person were so slim it was a near impossibility. Overall, it was likely pointless to puzzle over the person....and yet, Jon's curiosity was one of the driving forces in his life and he needed to know more. Settling for never knowing was....unthinkable.

The truck pulled to a stop, snapping Jon out of his thoughts. They were in a parking lot in front of an outdoorsy store.

"We're here!" Martin announced, "You looked like you were thinking pretty hard. If you want you could stay here? I'll only be a few minutes."

Jon nodded absently, mind still partly stuck in the past. He watched Martin hop out of the truck and walk inside the store. Jon was a little thankful he'd been offered the option to stay inside. After a day like he'd just had, he didn't think he had any energy left for dealing with people.

He pulled out his phone to see if he'd gotten any texts from Sasha or Tim. He had not. So Jon settled in to wait for Martin.

It really didn't take long for Martin to return, now carrying what Jon assumed was a rolled-up tent and a shopping bag. He opened his door and tossed both in the back before climbing in.

"That's sorted then. Time to head back, I guess." Martin said.

Jon just nodded, not willing to muster up the energy to speak right then. Martin swiftly pulled out of the parking lot and soon enough they're on their way back.

Partway through the drive, Jon felt his phone buzz in his pocket. He shifted in his seat to pull the thing out of his pocket, worried that something had gone wrong at the anomaly.

**SASHA: Hey, there's some weird guy here? He claims to know stuff about anomalies and has a personal army or something with him.**

**JON: Hold on, we're on our way back.**

Jon didn't put his phone back in his pocket, wanting to read any further updates as soon as possible, and turned to Martin.

"There's someone at the anomaly."

"Shit. Okay." Martin said before speeding up enough that Jon would be worried if there were more than a couple other cars on the road.

The trip back took about half the time that the trip out did, and Jon wished he was more worried about Martin's reckless driving then he was. His phone remained silent, no new updates, so when they arrived they hurried to grab their supplies, Martin grabbing the bag and Jon grabbing the tent before they rushed into the woods. Jon led the way back to the anomaly, he was fairly familiar with these woods and Martin had already gotten lost in them before. 

When they arrived at the clearing they found it surrounded by people in black kevlar holding guns. Near the anomaly, Sasha and Tim were glaring at a man in a suit who grinned when he spotted Jon and Martin. Jon hurried to Sasha's side with Martin following close behind him.

"Ah, good. You're all here. It was very impressive the way you all handled that little incident." The man said, still grinning his oily grin.

"What, so you were spying on us?" Tim demanded.

" I was observing you, yes. My name is Elias Bouchard I'm funding research on these, what did you call them? Anomalies? And while my people here are quite skilled I'm afraid it's harder to find more creative or scientifically minded people than it is to find brute force when it comes to things that are this....sensitive."

"Where are you going with this?" Sasha asked, eyes narrowed.

"Where I'm going with this, miss James is that I am offering you a job. You would study these anomalies, occasionally helping contain and control incidents similar to earlier with your expertise. Honestly, that creature didn't seem like much a problem to you as is, imagine what could be done with proper supplies. So, what do you say?" Elias's smile was sharp.

Jon was uneasy that he knew Sasha's name and a glance at the others told him they likely felt similarly. Every single thing about the situation screamed that it was a horrible idea to say yes. But.....Jon still had questions, questions that would eat at him until he knew the answers and if working with Elias was what got him access to those answers.....

"I'm in," Jon said before he could think about what he was doing.

He tried not to regret it when Elias's poisonous smile widened.

~

Martin hadn't trusted Elias, he'd hated how quickly Jon had agreed, he'd hated how Tim and Sasha reluctantly agreed. He hated how he'd agreed, but he had no job and he needed the money. So he showed up at the location Elias gave as the Anomaly Research Center or ARC a week later.

The building itself wasn't all that impressive. Boring, grey and plain with nothing of note surrounding it. It was also smaller than Martin had expected. Really, he'd been expecting some sort of high-tech building.

Once he was finished being disappointed by the building Martin spotted Sasha and Jon waiting in front of it, quietly talking to each other. Martin tried not to feel out of place when he walked up to them.

"Hello!"

"Hi, Martin!" Sasha returned his greeting with a smile and a small wave.

Jon, on the other hand, rolled his eyes and muttered "Finally."

Martin tried not to feel a little stung by that, he couldn’t make everyone like him after all, but still.

"We're still waiting for Tim." Sasha gestured at herself and Jon, and Martin nodded.

"What are the odds he actually shows up?" Jon asked, continuing to look unimpressed with everything around him.

"Rude."

All three of them turned to see Tim cheerfully making his way towards them, somehow not insulted by Jon. 

"Okay, we're all here," Jon said before turning and quickly punching in the code they'd all been given to open the doors.

Martin glanced at Sasha who shrugged at him before following Jon through the door. Martin had no idea what to make of Jon. They had worked well together in sending the Gorgonopsid home and they managed to have an alright conversation before Martin fucked it up by talking too much, but he was rude and so eager to work for the ARC it was a little unsettling. With a sigh, Martin followed the others through the door.

Inside was a normal reception area. There were a handful of chairs up against a wall and a desk with a potted plant, a computer and a nameplate reading 'Rosie'. Behind the desk was who Martin assumed must be Rosie. She smiled widely at them, bright red lipstick and cold eyes making her seem dangerous.

"Jonathan Sims, Sasha James, Tim Stoker and Martin Blackwood?" She asked, voice melodic.

"That's us!" Tim confirmed.

"Great! Follow me." 

Rosie scooped a badge off the desk, spun around and unlocked the door that was behind and to the left of the desk. She wasted no time hurrying down the hallway and Jon matched her pace. Martin was feeling even more uneasy now and moved at a regular speed alongside Sasha and Tim.

The hall was short and led to a second door which required a different badge to open. Through that door was a wider room with a balcony overlooking it. The balcony was connected to a glass-walled office that Martin could see Elias sitting in, watching them all intensely. On the ground, there were a handful of Elias's personal little army of mercenaries wandering around, but it was otherwise strangely empty.

Rosie didn't slow down though, leading them to another hallway. There were several doors, but she stopped at the third one down and used her second badge to open it. 

"Miss James, Mr Sims, this is your lab," Rosie announced as she opened the door.

The lab was massive, filled with computers and things Martin didn't totally understand. Jon and Sasha lit up though and all but ran into the room to check it out.

"Wow," Jon said, running his hands over a wall lined with containers.

"This is amazing!" Sasha had already turned on a computer and was rapidly clicking around.

"I'm glad you like it." Rosie's smile was sharp again and Martin wished the lab had been a little less captivating to Sasha.

"Look at those nerds." Tim laughed, but his smile didn't quite reach his eyes.

"Currently we get an alert every time someone makes a 999 call and we have someone review it for potential connections to an anomaly. Elias would like it if you could build something to track the anomalies themselves." Rosie said, explaining just why they got a lab in the first place.

Jon and Sasha wasted no time accepting the challenge though.

"We'd need to get close to an anomaly again, probably more than one. Get some readings...."

"But it might be doable!"

"We certainly hope so. Now, Mr Stoker, Mr Blackwood, if you would follow me." Rosie turned and left as briskly as before.

Martin didn't particularly want to follow her, but he didn't see another choice so he allowed himself to be led into an elevator. Once again Rosie used her badge, this time to take them to one of the bottom floors. Martin wondered just how many of these floors were even being used for anything. After all, it didn't really seem like the ARC had all that much data on anomalies and even if they did, what was the plan here?

The elevator doors opened and Rosie quickly led him and Tim to a gun range. This was not what Martin had signed up for at _all_.

"Guns?" Tim turned to Rosie, arms crossed.

"Shouldn't we be trying to keep these animals alive? Not kill them?" Martin asked.

"We will be providing you with tranquillizer guns, but it never hurts to be prepared for anything. Mr Bouchard wants you to learn how to properly handle guns. To be frank, Mr Sims and Miss James are the ones Mr Bouchard needs, Mr Blackwood we're sure your knowledge will come in handy as well, but I'm afraid the both of you are more on the...hmm...animal control side of things." Rosie explained, smile never cracking.

"So Jon and Sasha are the brains and we're the brawn?" Tim asked.

"Essentially."

"Wow. I sure feel appreciated." Tim rolled his eyes.

"You're a valued part of the core team. Your expertise with explosives will surely be of use. Now, let's get you both started." Rosie was clearly done discussing this.

Martin felt deeply uncomfortable with the idea of hurting these animals, but he tried to remind himself that he needed the money and that the team needed his knowledge. As he and Tim fired at targets though he thought about all the people hanging around with guns and he felt like he was just another brute, brought along only because he happened to be near the actually smart people at the wrong time.

~

The weeks seemed to fly by. Everyday Jon would go to the ARC, unlock various doors with his badge, hunker down in his lab and work. Around him Tim, Sasha and Martin seemed to bond, exchanging stories and joking with each other. Jon wanted to join in, he really did, but he didn't have a clue how to start so he focused entirely on his work. Together he and Sasha built several things that should be able to gather data on anomalies, if they ever saw one again. By week five Jon was beginning to doubt his work at the ARC would ever extend past the lab.

Everyday Martin would bring tea for everyone, Jon would only notice and drink it sometimes, and he and Tim would just sort of stay in the lab unless they were needed elsewhere. They were rarely needed elsewhere. At first Jon was irritated with having people chatting in his lab, but he grew used to it and even began enjoying the background noise.

"There's no way that happened." Martin said and Tim laughed.

"I swear it's true! Would I ever like to you, my friend?"

"Yes, he would." Sasha looked up from her screen to grin at Tim who clutched his chest in mock betrayal.

Before their enviously easy conversation can continue an alarm blared, startling them all. The all rush to the door, looking out to see Elias's brutes running up and down the hall. One of them turned to yell at the them to hurry so Jon and Sasha ducked back into the lab to grab their equipment. Jon's heart started pounding with both excitement and terror.

"Can we help carry anything?" Tim asked, Martin hovering by his side.

"No, I think we’ve got it." Sasha replied.

Jon focused on carefully piling things in boxes. At some point Tim and Martin left the room, Jon wasn't sure when, probably to get their guns. Jon felt a little worried about the fact that he and Sasha didn't get guns, but he reminded himself that they were there to take readings on the anomaly and there were tons of people around to protect them. But somehow the idea of Martin with a gun was less than reassuring.

He and Sasha quickly finished their packing and rushed to the unmarked black van that would take them to the sighting and scrambled into the back. A minute later Tim and Martin arrived and sat down across from them. Tim grinned wide and Martin looked ill.

"Kind of exciting, huh?" Tim said.

Jon didn't bother to answer, busy double checking that he had everything. He heard Sasha cheer a little.

Another person climbed into the back with them and wasted no time telling them what they knew.

"The caller described what she saw as a 'huge fucking bird', any ideas what that could be, Blackwood?"

"No- no other description?" Martin asked, weakly.

Jon began to actively worry about the fact that Martin was one of the people who had a gun. The man shook his head.

"That's- it could be any number of things." Martin said.

"Right. Well, we're heading to a shipping container storage facility. There was no mention of an anomaly in the call." The man said.

"It has a pretty unique magnetic signature," Jon jumped in to explain, "We should have no trouble finding it once we're close."

The man nodded at them. Apparently satisfied, he climbed out of the back and closed the door behind him. The sound of the door closing made Jon feel a little sick, and not entirely in a bad way. This was real and they were really about to find another anomaly. Of course, it could always have been a false alarm and the 'huge fucking bird' could be one that belonged in this time period, but.....Jon had a good feeling about this one.

The drive seemed to drag on, every turn and bump in the road only increasing Jon's nerves. Finally, after what felt like a small eternity, they pull to a stop and the person near the door pulled it open.

Tim and Martin file out first, followed by the handful of others that came with them, then finally Jon and Sasha were able to get out of the van. Jon felt like he was vibrating with his need to search for the anomaly, but they had to spend a moment talking to the woman who called first.

"Oh thank god! You're here for the bird, right? I last saw it over that way a couple rows down." She pointed as she spoke.

"We are here for the bird, yeah." Tim smiled at her.

"What would you say it looked like?" Martin asked.

Jon's patience was being tested.

"Does that matter?" The woman asked, shaking her head a little.

"Just roughly how big is it?" Martin tried.

"Um, I'm not sure. Taller than you. I've never seen anything like it!"

Jon stopped listening, pulling out his magnetic 'anomaly finder'. It took no time for him to find the strong, unusual magnetic field that meant there was an anomaly. He nudged Sasha to get her attention, smiling a little when he saw here eyes widen.

"Tim, Martin, Jon and I are going to....uh.....investigate?" She said.

"Great! Take a couple of these guys with you." Tim signaled for a couple of Elias's people to go with them.

Jon was just happy to finally be able to follow the signal. Weeks of working on things and now he could finally put them to the test, to get more information, more answers. He barely paid attention to his surroundings as they walked, focused entirely on finding the anomaly. He knew that he should've probably been looking out for the giant bird, but really what was a bird going to do to him?

The small group made their way through the maze of shipping containers, occasionally running into dead ends and having to retrace their steps to find another way closer to their goal. And then, in one of the dead ends, there's the anomaly. Hanging in the air, as amazing and otherworldly as Jon remembered.

"Wow. I forgot how beautiful they are." Sasha breathed.

"We don't know how long it's going to be open. We should hurry." Jon reminded her, putting down his boxes and pulling them open.

"Right, right."

The two of them hurried to set up their equipment, the two others that had been sent with them standing guard. A small amount of data was gathered from the first anomaly and Jon couldn't wait to see how this new, better data compared. It did occur to him that having just the two guards was perhaps worrying, but he didn't dwell on that for long, instead losing himself to his work.

~

After Jon and Sasha left everyone remaining split into teams of two to spread out and look for the bird, Martin paired up with Tim, not trusting Elias's goons. Martin was fairly certain they were looking for a Phorusrhacos, or terror bird, which supposedly only ate smaller prey so it was unlikely they'd be actively hunted by it. It could still easily kill them though and Martin found himself jumping at every noise.

The maze of shipping containers wasn't overly noisy, but every once in a while a small creature, a rat or a bird or something, would make their presence known by scuffling around or calling out. Thankfully, Tim didn't seem to judge him, just continued to look for the creature instead of commenting on Martin's frayed nerves. 

Martin felt his nose itch with the dust their walking had kicked up and he focused in trying not to sneeze. Alerting the terror bird to their location seemed unwise.

"It's pretty quiet. Do you think it went home all on it's own?" Tim asked.

Martin frowned, very much doubting it, but before he could voice that thought they turned the corner and found themselves face to face with an eight foot tall, long legged, long necked, bird. There was no doubt it was a Phorusrhacos and it stared at them.

"Shit!" Martin squeaked.

"I guess not!" Tim said at the same time.

Almost simultaneously he and Tim fired at the bird, but it had already started moving forward, causing the darts to miss. Having to other choice, they choose to run.

The bird screeches behind them, the sound piercing through Martin's brain, causing his heart to speed up to where it's beat was all he could here. The bird was faster than they were, Martin knew that and he was fairly certain that Tim had to know that too, but turning and firing again seemed unwise. If he missed again the bird would catch up in the time it took for him to start running again.

In a moment he and Tim reached a crossroads. Having no time to do anything but keep running, they ended up taking different directions. There was a horrible, selfish second where Martin hoped the terror bird would chase after Tim instead, but before he had time to be guilty for that though he heard the thundering footsteps and horrible screech behind him.

Martin was absolutely sure this was how he would die. Joining the ARC had been a terrible idea and he was going to be killed by a prehistoric bird. Yes, it was one of the cooler possible deaths, but it would be painful. Those claws had looked very sharp.

Still, Martin figured that if death was inevitable he might as was try one last stupid, crazy thing.

So he raised his gun, spun around and fired. Of course he missed, there was no other way that was going to turn out. The terror bird caught up to him and Martin kind of regretted that the last thing he was going to see were it's furious eyes.

It's head rammed into Martin's chest with so much force that he could've sworn he felt it bruising, and he fell to the ground, skidding on his back for about a foot before he stopped. He tried to scramble to his feet, but with a quick movement the bird's talons raked across his chest. Martin shouted in pain, the cuts didn't feel deep, but they stung fiercely. The bird screeched again and raised it's head, Martin braced himself for the blow, but before anything could happen he heard a tranquilizer gun fire and the bird turned around sharply. It took a step away from Martin before it wobbled on it's feet in a way that almost made him want to laugh, before it finally fell to the ground. Martin wanted to wince and feel sympathy for how hard it had fallen, but his chest kind of felt like it was on fire so he figured this was only fair.

Tim ran forward, hesitating for only a moment when he saw the state Martin was in, before he dropped to his knees next to him.

"You're hurt!"

Martin took a breath and forced himself to sit upright, grabbing Tim's offered hand for leverage. The burning feeling was fading pretty quickly and he figured he'd probably be fine after some bandages and some rest.

"It's- it's not that deep. I'm fine." Martin tried to insist, but his breath came out in pants making him sound worse off than he felt.

"If you're sure...." Tim didn't look convinced, but he didn't push it.

They sat in silence after that. They'd found the bird so there wasn't any rush and, well, Martin needed a moment to sit, feeling better or no.  
Martin wondered if maybe he should quit this job. The risk to his life didn't particularly seem worth it, but he reminded himself of Elias and how shady he was. Yeah, Martin could quit, but he could be sure that Elias wouldn't let anyone with knowledge of the anomalies walk free. So, he was stuck. He'd been stuck for awhile. And besides, the people he was stuck with seemed alright! Tim and Sasha at least were friendly. Jon was....Jon would warm up to him eventually. Probably. Or maybe not and that would be fine, not everyone had to like him.

That thought felt hollow. In fact, everything Martin felt right then felt hollow. This was not what he had wanted out of life.


	3. Chapter 3

Jon felt unreasonably excited as he watched the data on the anomaly roll in. He was actually measuring some sort of tear in the time, in reality possibly, of course he was excited! He would've been perfectly happy to continue doing so in silence, but Sasha seemed to have other ideas.

"We haven't had much of a chance for just the two of use to talk recently."

"I suppose?" Jon was still more focused on the anomaly.

"Yeah. Hey, what do you think of Martin?" Sasha asked.

Jon wasn't entirely sure where that question came from so he shrugged.

"He tries to hard."

"Ouch." Sasha said, sarcasm dripping from the word, "He's just friendly, Jon."

"Hmmm."

"Maybe you could try being a little less grumpy." She suggested, and that got Jon's attention.

"I'm not grumpy!"

"You are literally my grumpiest friend." Sasha crossed her arms, but she was smiling at him.

Jon decided not to answer that and turned back to his work. What did it matter if he was grumpy? He was getting his job done and he and Sasha were already friends, so there was really no need for him to be less grumpy.

"I'm pretty sure the only reason I managed to befriend you was through being stubborn. I know Tim is pretty stubborn, but I don't know Martin that well....I hope he is." Sasha continued.

Jon raised his eyebrows, not totally believing what Sasha was getting at.

"Do we all have to be friends?" He asked, trying to keep his distaste out of his voice.

"No, I just think it'd be nice." Sasha shrugged.

"Of course."

In reality, Jon wasn't opposed to befriending the team, but he was aware that he....wasn't a particularly good friend. That and getting attached to people who would likely die at the hand, or claws rather, of a prehistoric monster seemed......deeply unwise.

Jon tried to push those thoughts from his mind and focus fully on the readings. It was only kind of effective. Luckily, Sasha let him continue on in silence, checking her own machines regularly.

Then he noticed a fluctuation in a line that had been completely steady before.

"That's weird..." Jon muttered.

"What is?" Sasha took a step towards him, looking over his shoulder at the readings.

Before Jon could answer the anomaly pulsed with light and something jumped out of it. He and Sasha scramble backwards, putting as much distance as possible between them and what Jon now sees is some sort of saber toothed cat a little larger than a mountain lion.Not totally useless, the two guards rushed forward. The cat pounced and Jon watched, horrified and unable to do anything, as it ripped out the guy's throat. Blood gushed out, spattering the ground, the cat and the other guard. Something about the scene didn't feel quite real, as though Jon was watching from a distance.

He snapped back to reality when Sasha grabbed his shoulder and gestured at the back of the dead end. Jon knew there was a gap between the shipping containers back there and nodded in understanding. As the cat leapt at the other guard, sinking it's teeth into their arm, Jon and Sasha ran. The cracking of bone and screams of pain ringing in Jon's ears wasn't quite enough to convince him to leave their machines behind though, so he scooped up what he could before running to join Sasha.

The gap between the shipping containers wasn't big and Jon was grateful he and Sasha kind of tiny. It was still quite claustrophobic though.Sasha glared at him when she saw what was in his arms and Jon felt somehow even smaller in the heat of it.

"Why the fuck would you go grab that shit?!" She hissed.

"It's valuable data!" Jon hissed back, knowing it was a weak excuse.

"Not more valuable than your life!!"

"Agree to disagree." If this was the hill he was dying on then was going to die on it.

"Jon!" Sasha was still clearly furious.

"Shush." He tried.

"You shush." She snapped back.

Sasha continued to glare at him as they stood in dark, listening to the sounds of flesh being torn apart.

Jon didn't really disagree that his detour hadn't been the wisest move, but he hadn't exactly been thinking clearly at the time. The idea of more weeks with basically nothing to work on somehow seemed worse than death in the split second in which he'd made his choice. It of course wasn't, but Jon's impulsive actions were rarely stellar.

It felt like hours before the ripping and crunching quieted down. That didn't mean the cat was gone, of course, it just meant it was finished with its meal.

Sure enough, there was a growl echoing through the area. Jon had known the guard wouldn't live through that attack, but he only now realized that meant he and Sasha were alone and completely defenseless with some sort of very fast, very deadly, saber toothed cat and it probably wouldn't take that long for it to find them if it wanted to.

Jon looked at Sasha and judging from the look on her face, she'd come to the same conclusion.

~

Tim had a small first aid kit on him, something Martin wished he'd thought to bring too, so they were able to get him at least partly bandaged. It wasn't an amazing job and Martin knew he'd have to get looked at properly sooner rather than later, but it would do for now.It was a bit of a struggle for Martin to get to his feet, Tim lent a hand, and when he was finally standing he felt his head spin and his stomach lurch. He squeezed his eyes shut and focused on his breathing while he waited for it to pass.

"You alright?" Tim asked, hand still firmly placed on Martin's shoulder.

"Yeah, yeah I think so. Just give me a- a minute." Martin replied.

After a few more moments the spinning stopped, his wound still ached in a way that seemed almost full body, but Martin figured he could push forward so he opened his eyes and nodded at Tim. Tim looked at him for a moment before nodding and stepping back to call the others and tell them they'd found the bird. The bird that Martin realized he and Tim would have to drag all the way back to the anomaly. That was less than ideal to say the least and probably the terror bird would wake up back home with several new bruises, not that Martin could bring himself to be overly torn up about that.

"Right, they're on their way back. I guess we.....How do we move this thing?" Tim asked, stepping forward to join Martin in staring at the unconscious bird.

"Drag it?" Martin's body throbbed in pain at the idea.

"No way you can do that."

"D'you have any better ideas?"

Tim did not have any better ideas.

Martin's arms screamed in protest as he and Tim dragged the creature by it's feet through the maze of shipping containers. Tim did most of the work, face pinched with the effort, but Martin had wanted to at least feel like he was being helpful and now he was regretting that want. Massive prehistoric birds were far from light it turned out.

The parts of Martin's brain not completely occupied with dragging the bird were trying to figure out how he felt about this being his life now. Sure, he'd thought he'd been prepared after facing the Gorgonopsid, but there was a bit of a difference between facing down a dinosaur on accident, preparing to face down more dinosaurs this time on purpose, and actually doing just that. He knew it was to late to back out, but he wondered that if that were a real option....would he take it? Throbbing with pain and with blood leaking through his bandages he couldn't really remember ever, even briefly, been happy to have started working at the ARC.

They were a few feet away from the turn that would finally bring back to the place where the anomaly was when they heard a growl. Martin glanced at Tim who was already looking his way and with a nod they silently agreed to lower the bird's legs and bring out their tranquilizers. They crept forward silently, Martin became very aware of the sound of his breathing and the pulse of his heartbeat through his veins. When they got to the corner he tried to brace himself to see Jon and Sarah dead at the claws of some vicious, hungry creature.

There were two dead bodies, pieces scattered through the scene, blood soaking the ground, but they weren't Jon or Sasha. There was also something stalking towards the back of the dead end, blood and gore dripping from it's paws and muzzle. Based on the period the anomaly must lead too and the unique shape of it's face Martin guessed it was a Thylacosmilus. A moment later he realized that the reason Jon and Sasha weren't dead was likely because they were hiding, probably that was where the Thylacosmilus was heading to, growling low in it's throat.

"HEY!" Tim shouted, leveling his tranquilizer at the creature.

It turned sharply and roared before charging them. Martin felt his mind go blank with terror as it ran towards them, bloody mouth open. TIm fired at it, hitting it's shoulder and for a horrible second it didn't slow down and Martin was once again sure this was going to be the day he died. The second passed and it's steps faltered before it finally collapsed to the ground and Martin could finally breath again.

"It's safe! We got it!" Tim called once a few more seconds had passed without the Thylacosmilus rising.

Sure enough, Jon and Sasha scrambled out from the corner between the two containers. Jon paused for a moment, staring wide-eyed at the Thylacosmilus before rushing toward the anomaly and....and setting up the equipment he'd apparently taken with him. Martin felt like he should've been surprised.

"I cannot believe you!! You could've died for data that we could gather again later!" Sasha shouted at Jon, Martin silently seconded it.

"I didn't die." Jon's voice was calm, but Martin could see his hands shake.

"But you could've!!"

"But I didn't!"

Sasha let out a small, frustrated scream, "I cannot believe you!"

Jon ignored this and just continued working until Sasha sighed and joined him. Martin watched and realized that Jon was, truly, a disaster. That was really unfortunate. He knew himself well enough to know that he was drawn to disaster for some reason and developing feelings for a teammate seemed really unwise, especially since they'd all nearly died at least once that day and two people actually had been killed. Odds were he'd watch Jon die and having feelings for him would just make that worse. But he couldn't actually control his heart, all he could do was hope that Jon was somehow not the type of disaster he'd fall for.

Decision to just ignore the situation made, Martin walked over to Tim to see if he needed any help dragging the Thylacosmilus.

"Hey Martin." Tim grinned at him.

Martin raised his eyebrows in question. Tim scooped up the front of the Thylacosmilus and held it like you'd hold a cat you were irritating for fun.  
"I've always wanted a cat. Can I keep him?"

"Ha ha. He's not even technically a cat." Martin kept his tone sarcastic, but he was smiling.

"Fine, fine." Tim sighed dramatically before scooping up the Thylacosmilus and carrying it through the anomaly.

Jon didn't even look up as Tim walked through the anomaly, if anything he stared at the readings more intensely. Sasha watch him go though.

After a moment Martin realized that Tim had left him the terror bird, which he absolutely couldn't carry on his own. He mentally weighed the pros and cons of asking Jon and Sasha for help, but Tim returned quickly and walked straight for where they'd left the bird.

"C'mon, Martin, can't wait around all day!" He said, cheerfully.

Martin hurried to follow him and they grabbed its legs like before. Martin's entire body started throbbing with pain as he exerted the effort to move the bird. Tim seemed fine.  
Jon glared at them when they almost stumbled into some of his equipment, but a moment later they were through the anomaly. Tim and Martin lay the bird down a small ways from the anomaly then they just take a moment to look around and drink in their surroundings.

The grasslands stretched on, interrupted only by large rocks and lean plants. Animal calls that were completely foreign to human ears echoed through the air. A lizard thing that moved to fast for Martin to identify darted over a rock. It was the early Pliocene era and it was spectacular.

Despite the pain still radiating through his body, Martin felt almost at peace. Yeah, this was his life now and somehow stepping through time into the distant past after almost being killed made everything terrifyingly and wonderfully real. Everything was worth it for this moment and future moments like it, Martin decided.

"Wow." He breathed.

"Eh, I've seen better." Tim pretended to be unimpressed.

Martin laughed at that, unless Tim had been through another anomaly he very much doubted that.

"Fine, I haven't. This is amazing!" Tim threw his arms out wide, grinning.

"We're probably the first humans to see this." Martin pointed out, also grinning.

"Yeah. Holy shit."

They stood there for a moment, committing everything to memory before Tim spoke again.

"We should probably get back before Sasha gets worried."

"Wouldn't Jon also get worried?" Martin asked, mind still partly stuck on the man.

"You have met him, right? He's probably not even aware there are other people around him right now, wrapped up in whatever research he and Sasha are doing." Tim scoffed.

"I guess.""We'll go through other anomalies." Tim reassured him.

"Promise?" Martin asked, trying to make it a joke.

They both laughed for a brief moment before turning around and going back to their proper time.

~

After the terror bird anomaly things quieted down a while, which gave Jon and Sasha plenty of time to work on their anomaly detector. Jon let himself sink entirely into work, puzzling things out and fitting parts together. He was actually happy for once, which was incredibly nice. Losing himself to the puzzle of it all may have made him more absentminded when it came to other things, something that was clear when he repeatedly ran into doorways, much to Sasha's amusement, but he didn't really mind it.

Jon leaned back for a second from where he was hunched over the guts of the computer that was being converted into their anomaly detector and looked over at where Sasha was typing away at her pc, lines of code appearing on the screen. Jon had remembered Martin being irritatingly worried about his back getting sore so he'd decided to stretch, but something about this moment working parallel to Sasha on the same, potentially world changing project, struck him as quite nice. He didn't want to waste to much time on it, but he let the moment sink in and took a sip of his now close to room temperature tea before throwing himself back into his task.

There were several more moments like that over the following few weeks. Tim leaning over Sasha's screen to make some joke, Martin handing everyone tea and asking how it was coming along, Sasha getting so frustrated with a piece of code that she demanded Jon teach her something about assembling tech. It was....nice. If Elias hadn't been watching over everything from his his glass-walled office and probably several cameras hidden around (maybe Jon was paranoid but Elias knew more than he ought to) it could've been pretty close to perfect.

Which is how Jon let his guard down enough to accept the offer to go out for drinks after work.

Jon sat beside Sasha and across from Martin who was beside Tim and was talking excitedly about a dog that lived near him.

"And she's so fluffy! Look!" Martin shoved his phone in Jon's face.

Jon wasn't really a dog person, but was fairly cute, and small.

"Aw, she's so small." Sasha cooed.

"I know! I wish I could get a dog." Martin sighed and took his phone back.

"I have a cat sometimes." Jon said, not really thinking, just feeling the need to add something.

"You have a cat sometimes? What does that mean?" Tim asked.

Jon just shrugged and realized he'd trapped himself into having to speak. Sasha took over for him though and he made a mental note to buy her a coffee or something.

"He and his ex share custody."

Jon let himself zone out as Sasha explained. This whole night had been, against all expectations, nice and Jon found that he quite liked the company of his team, not just Sasha but Tim and Martin too, even if they were a tad irritating. Slowly, it occurred to him that he might even call them all his friends. That thought was a little frightening and Jon shoved it away to be thought about later. He focused on the conversation once again in time to hear Martin laugh and he couldn't help but smile slightly at the sound.

Several more days that Jon would consider good passed, work on the anomaly detector progressed almost as much as it could before Jon found himself alone in the lab, the sky surely dark outside, while Martin stood in the doorway having said something that Jon absolutely hadn't heard.

"Sorry, did you say something?" Jon tried to shake himself out of his focus on his task.

"I was wondering if you were planning on going home at some point tonight." Martin said and actually stepped fully into the room.

"I- I have to finish-" Jon started to protest, mind still partly working on the detector, but Martin cut him off.

"You've been going on about how you won't be able to do much more work without finding another anomaly first to test some things on. There's is no reason to stay here all night working on it. Go home, go to sleep."

Jon ignored that. The idea of sleep had become unappealing, even though things had been fairly untraumatic lately. His worries about the other person wandering through the past doing who knows what combined with the memories of almost dying twice now and on top of that....Jon knew he was never going to quit working at the ARC. He knew that the only way this was going to end was him dying violently because there was nothing anyone could do to drag him away from this and that was a frightening thing to know about yourself and your inevitable death. Well, it was all enough that sleeping was deeply unappealing.

Martin sighed and walked over to sit near Jon and watch him work. Jon tried to ignore him and get back in the zone, but he couldn't and the silence grew to heavy, so he searched for something to break it with.

"Why do you know so much about these animals?" Is what he settled on.

Martin laughed and Jon was ready to apologize for the stupid question, but before he could Martin started to answer.

"Oh! When I was younger I had this friend who was completely obsessed. Thought the government was hiding the continued existence of dinosaurs or something? He also thought that life was carried to earth on an alien spacecraft. Who knows, maybe he was right about that one too."

"Saying he was right about the government hiding the fact that dinosaurs are still around seems like a stretch." Jon said under his breath, which made Martin laugh again and something warm light up inside his chest.

"I guess. Anyway, at some point I decided to look up this one thing to try and prove a point to him and I ended up being really fascinated by basically all of prehistory. I've been studying everything I can in my free time ever since." Martin finished with a shrug.

Jon just looked at him for a bit, he felt like somehow uncovered something entirely new, like he was the first to see Martin. It was completely ridiculous.

"Huh. Did you.....Ever prove that point?" He asked, and Martin smiled at the question.

"I like to think I did."

The next day the 999 alert rung and Jon was so unbelievably excited to gather more data on anomalies he was the first one in the van. He would've felt embarrassed, but once the others were in the van he could see them all practically vibrating with excitement. Jon briefly considered there might be something wrong with them all if the idea of diving back into danger had them all like that, but he brushed the thought aside.

The anomaly itself is what had been reported and after getting the location Rosie had told the caller to leave the area so they were free to pull up right next to it. Jon rushed to grab his equipment, thirsty to get the readings he needed.

"I'm going with Tim while he looks for anything weird. Martin, maybe stay with Jon and make sure he doesn't get himself killed?" Sasha directed.

"Of course." Martin said with hesitation.

There hadn't been a creature sighting so they'd only brought one of Elias's mercenaries with them and presumably he'd go with Sasha and Tim. Jon knew he needed someone to watch him back, but the idea that he wasn't perfectly capable on his own was irritating.

"I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself." He grumbled.

"Are you?" Sasha looked him in the eyes and held his gaze until he had to look away.

You save the equipment before yourself one time....

"Right, sounds like a plan. Let's go hunt a dinosaur!" Tim cheered.

"We don't know if anything-" Martin said.

"Let me have this."

Martin laughed and raised his hands in a mock surrender and once again the sound made Jon feel something he refused to examine, so he decided they wasted enough time and hurried over to the anomaly. After a moment Tim, Sasha and the mercenary left and Martin came over to stand near Jon. He felt a little bad for ignoring him, but Jon had to collect as much data as possible and pushed the guilt away and got into the zone.

Jon wasn't sure how much time had passed, but he found himself looking at one of the devices measuring the energy coming off the anomaly and he has an idea. He stood up and grabbed the device.

"I'm going through." 

"Wait- wait WHAT?!"

Jon didn't stick around to hear the rest of Martin's protests, he stepped through the anomaly single-mindedly focused on collecting data.

~

Martin watched dumbfounded as Jon walked through the anomaly for absolutely no reason with absolutely no protection. It took him less than a second to decide to follow him through.

On the other side is a freezing arctic, not somewhere they could stand to be for more than a short period of time with their light coats."Oh, you didn't have to follow me. I'm only going to be a second." Jon seemed genuinely surprised to see Martin, which was infuriating.

"That's not- You can't just jump through anomalies, Jon!" He shouted.

"Pretty sure I can."

"Jon!"

"Martin!" Jon's voice was mocking before turning back to a reassuring tone, "I'm fine. I just need to-"

"Hello, Jonathan Sims, Martin Blackwood, my name is Peter. Do you know who I am."

The voice startled them both and they turned sharply to see a man dressed in a heavy coat that was actually appropriate for the weather. There shouldn't have been another human around, let alone someone who knew their names somehow! Martin tried very hard not to panic.

"Good lord! You can't just- Wait, who are you? How are you here? Why do you know our names?!" Jon demanded.

Martin didn't know what the fuck he was supposed to do. Tranquilize the man? That seemed extreme.

"So you don't. That's a shame. I'd really hoped Elias would've been more honest with you. You are the team he has studying these anomalies, yes?" Peter asked.

"W-we don't have to answer that!" Martin tried, hating how his voice shook.

"We are."

"Jon!" Martin hissed at him.

"He already knows who we are, Martin!" Jon pointed out, which just annoyed Martin further.

"That I do! Anyway, you're clearly not very well prepared for the weather so I'll just say what I found you to say and go." Peter said, voice calm and cheerful in a way that seemed deeply false.

"And that is...?" Martin asked, his fear melting and morphing into suspicion.

"Don't trust Elias."

Martin laughed at that, feeling more than hearing how high pitched and off he sounded. Jon looked at him in alarm, but Martin paid no attention to that, focused on the ridiculous warning.

"Oh, is that all? Don't trust Elias?!" 

"Yes. Well, good luck with....all this." Peter said then turned around and disappeared back into the snow.

For a moment all Martin can do is stare after Peter, aware of the fact that he couldn't feel his hands of feet anymore only vaguely. What a garbage warning. Don't trust Elias....as if literally any of them had trusted him even for a second.

Jon shifted next to him and Martin remembered that the freezing, endless cold all around them.

"Jon, we have to get back."

"Right. Right, of course."

And with that, they hurry back through the anomaly. The warmth back on their side almost knocked Martin off his numb feet. Jon tried to go back to work, but Martin grabbed his shoulder and forced him to sit next to him, huddled together in the hopes it would warm them up quicker. Surprisingly, Jon didn't protest this.

With Jon pressed against him like that, Martin found it near impossible to ignore that yes, he almost certainly had feelings for this absolute disaster of a man. The thought was kind of frightening to so latched onto the only other thought in his head and focused on that.

"So....Peter."

"Yes. That was.....very strange." Jon mumbled.

"Understatement" Martin snorted.

Jon just rolled his eyes and Martin frantically squashed down the bubbly feelings that rose in his chest.

"Do you have any idea how he knows Elias? Or us? Or is just freely wandering about in the past."

"No, Martin, I do not have any more knowledge than you."

"Was worth asking."

They sat in silence after that for a bit, maybe a minute, maybe twenty. Martin had a hard time keeping track of time, measuring only the feeling of Jon's breath.

"Well, when I went through that first anomaly I saw someone walking off in the distance."

Martin straighten a bit at that news.

"And you didn't mention this?"

"Well! I assumed I had just been mistaken! Now though....." Jon rushed to defend himself.

"Now you're pretty sure you saw Peter." Martin finished for him.

"Exactly."

"What does that mean? For us- the ARC- I mean." Martin asked.

"I have no idea."

"Do we confront Elias?"

"I have no idea."

"Do we tell Sasha and Tim? I mean, we probably should."

Jon sighed and sagged back into Martin's side at that and paused a second before answering.

"Yes, probably."

The conversation ended after that. They sat in silence and waited for Tim and Sasha to return and Martin tried very hard not to memorize the feeling of Jon at his side while he worried about what all this could mean.


	4. Chapter 4

It took a while, but eventually warmth and feeling returned to Jon's hands and feet. He still felt the chill from the icy past deep in his bones, but he didn't want to waste anymore time than he already had so he got to his feet and went back to work. Martin didn't say anything, but Jon could feel the disapproving look being sent his way. 

Maybe jumping through hadn't been the smartest idea Jon had ever had, but the readings he'd gotten from the experiment were amazing! He was sure he had enough pieces to finish the anomaly detector now. He shivered, possibly from excitement possibly from the cold still clinging to him.

"Grab your stuff and hide! Now!!"

Jon looked up at the radio he'd placed near his equipment, alarm shooting through him, before he rushed to obey Sasha's shouted order. With Martin's help it took no time to gather everything up and find a space to hide in the bushes. Jon had doubts about how well the bushes were going to hide them, but before he could voice them a loud roar sounded and he decided to crouch even lower down, hoping the plants would be enough cover.

A massive bear hurdled into sight before galloping right through the anomaly. Sasha and Tim slowed to a stop and high-fived over somehow scaring the bear back home.

"Ha! Bear exits pursued by us!" Tim shouted before laughing at his own joke.

Sasha giggled and Jon wished he were less amused by the terrible joke. With the danger gone though he and Martin exited the bushes.

"Oh good! That's where you are!" Sasha continued to grin as she waved at them.

"I'm glad you're having to much fun." Jon rolled his eyes.

The sarcasm was probably unnecessary, but it helped Jon feel a little less afraid.

"Oh come on, we're allowed! Hey, did you manage to get those tests done?" Sasha asked.

"All of them and more." Jon smiled.

The group drifted closer to the anomaly, drawn by it's glow.

"More?" Sasha raised her eyebrows.

"He went through the anomaly." Martin said, arms crossed and face deeply unimpressed.

Jon felt a tiny sliver of shame at that, but he pushed it aside. Not only had he gotten the information he'd wanted, he'd also learned more about Peter so overall it was a win. He still glared at Martin for a moment before speaking.

"Yes, I went through the anomaly. To gather data!"

"Right." Tim seemed skeptical.

"Yes." Jon would not back down.

"On the topic though....." Martin cut in, reminding Jon that there was still more to tell.

"Right, yes. While we were on the other side-"

"You brought Martin with you?" Tim asked, eyebrows raised.

"Was I supposed to just let him go on his own?" Martin countered.

"Martin!" Jon was not a fan of the team treating him like some...some child that had wandered off!

"Right, right. On the other side." Martin raised his hands and gestured for Jon to go on.

He took a second, double checking none of the mercenaries were around, before he continued. Couldn't be too careful after all.

"There was a man on the other side."

"What do you mean?" Sasha asked.

"It- he was a man in a heavy coat. He said his name is Peter and he knew our names and he told us not to trust Elias." Jon explained.

"Well, Elias is kind of weird and very creepy." Tim pointed out.

"Yes, obviously, but we're supposed to just- just listen to some random man running amok through time?" Jon said.

"When I listen to you aren't I already doing that?" Tim joked, which grated Jon's nerves.

Was he the only one taking this seriously?

"Tim." Sasha chided.

"Right, serious I know. It's just a little to spooky to be real, you know?" Tim shrugged.

"Ugh. Don't call it spooky." Jon wrinkled his nose at the word.

"Why not? It is!"

"Whatever word you want to use we have to- What. What do we do with this?" Sasha said.

"Watch Elias?" Martin suggested.

"Yes. Good suggestion, Martin." Jon said, mostly because he couldn't think of anything better to do.

Or else to do.

"Sure."

"Sounds good."

Tim and Sasha agreed quickly and after a moment's pause they all went about packing up their equipment and calling in to the ARC to send someone to guard the anomaly until it closed. Jon was torn on if telling Tim and Sasha was a good plan. On one hand, the more eyes on Elias the better, but on the other the more people who knew about Peter...If Peter wasn't to be trusted, which he probably wasn't, then the less people with his target on their back the better. 

Jon tried his best to shove those thoughts away and focus on how the anomaly detector was almost done, but it was like Peter's shadow was hovering over him.

~

Martin tried to keep his feelings under wraps, he really did, but every time Jon so much as breathed in his direction he felt his face start to heat. He tried to force the feelings away, but the rush of having someone new to project all his romantic hopes and dreams onto was a bit much.

Jon didn't seem to notice, thank god, but as soon as they were all safely back at the ARC Tim grabbed Martin by the bicep and pulled him away from the team, saying something about weapons and training. As soon as they were alone and out of earshot Tim let go and looked him in the eyes. Martin tried very hard to keep his face blank.

"Him? Really?!" Tim asked and Martin felt his face heat up once again.

"I don't know what you're talking about." He tried.

"Yes you do. What happened when we were gone?!" Tim pressed and Martin folded like paper.

"I- I don't know! It just happened!" He raised his hands as if defending himself.

"Alright. Yeah, we can't control who we're into but.... _Him?_ " Tim gestured back the way they came.

Martin didn't really appreciate the incredulity.

"Don't be mean, he's your friend too."

"Friend is a strong word. But yeah, alright, I'm fond of him. Not as fond as you though!" Tim grinned and Martin wished he was anywhere else.

"Don't tell him?" He pleaded.

Martin knew Jon would absolutely not appreciate Martin having feelings for him. Sure, Jon tolerated him but.....

"What do you take me for? Of course I won't tell him! I will tell Sasha though." Tim kept grinning.

"Tim-"

"Sorry, I can't keep secrets from her. Good luck, Martin." And with that Tim spun around and left.

Martin stared after him, kind of in disbelief.

For the next few days Jon and Sasha doubled down on their anomaly detector. Martin didn't totally understand what they were doing, but he did his best to be supportive, bringing cups of tea and food when they got to wrapped up in their work to remember to eat. Tim joked around to try and help in his own way. It was kind of nice and Martin felt like they really were falling into place as a team.

His feelings for Jon did not die down though. If anything, watching him work just made everything worse. When he was completely focused on his work his emotions played across his face, a complete open book. Jon smiling to himself when he made something work or frowning in irritation when it didn't was just to endearing and Martin wasn't sure his heart could take it.

One day Tim arrived a little late and with cake. That was more than enough to get Jon and Sasha's attention off their project.

"You can't have cake in here! The electronics-" Jon protested.

"It's your cake. Happy birthday!" Tim declared and set the cake on an empty table.

"I didn't know it was your birthday!" Martin tried really hard not to feel a little hurt, because feeling hurt over not knowing Jon birthday was pathetic.

He felt a little hurt.

"It's- oh." Jon blinked and Martin felt a little less hurt because it seemed Jon hadn't realized it was his birthday.

Martin happily helped Tim and Sasha gently shove Jon in front of the cake so they could sing at him. He looked so embarrassed and cute Martin wanted nothing more than to kiss him. He firmly shoved that feeling down.

The happy mood was infectious and Martin savored having this. Maybe they'd be killed horrible the next day or month or year, but right then in that moment they were a team and Jon was smiling as he ate his cake and Sasha was laughing at something Tim had said and Martin felt safe and happy it was good.

Things returned to normal the next day, but the mood was lighter. Martin thought it had been a pretty smart move by Tim to force Jon to celebrate his birthday, it had continued to lighten the general mood even afterwards. Not that the mood had ever been dark, but there was a certain amount of dread that built up after the number of close calls they'd had.

At night Martin would lay awake though, staring at the ceiling with his thoughts circling. He would think of Jon and his hopeless, pathetic feelings for him. How disgusted Jon would be if he ever figured it out. And if he shoved those thoughts away he was left remembering staring up at the terror bird, certain his life was moments from ending. And if he stopped thinking about that his mind was back on Jon. Circling over and over and over until he finally, somehow, fell asleep.

Waking up the the fire alarm was new though.

Martin opened his eyes and saw his flat was filled with....fog? That didn't really make sense. He pushed himself to his feet, wanting to get out of the building just in case.

The fog was thick and difficult to breath, but it was denser near the ground so he stood as tall he could, slowly pulling in mouthfuls of wet, disgusting air. Martin wasn't sure what it was or what he was smelling, but it was horrible.

Martin moved through his flat, breathing as shallowly as he could stand and did hesitate to pull open his door once he reached it. Unfortunately, behind the door was a bulbous, tube thing undulating across the floor. It turned towards Martin and started moving very quickly in his direction once the door was open. He hurried to slam it closed once more and leaned against it for good measure, which seemed to have been the correct move because he felt it slam it's body against the door.

So now Martin was stuck in his barely breathable fog filled flat with a giant worm trying to get inside. Great.

He wondered what the odds were that and anomaly would open so close to his home. Probably infinitesimally small. And yet that worm was not anything that should exist now. So, assuming there was an anomaly that had opened up nearby, this worm would probably be.....Martin racked his brains as the worm continued to slam itself into the door. He felt the wood start the splinter.

The worm was probably from the Precambrian era. Not that that information did all that much to help him, but it was kind of nice to know exactly what it was that was going to kill him in a minute. Martin wanted to call for help, get the ARC team over here to save him, but he'd left his phone and laptop in his room and he didn't think he could out run the worm. He also couldn't hold the door forever, especially since he could not only feel the wood splintering, he could hear it too.

Martin took a deep breath and sent a plea out to the universe that someone or something would somehow save him, though he knew that was a pretty useless wish.

The worm was relentless and Martin's shoulders and back to ache. After a few moment he decided that going down fighting would be a better idea because the waiting for death was unbearable. So he slowly slide down the door, deeper into the fog that was so thick near the floor, and stretched out his leg to try and hook it around the leg of a chair. The splintering wood started to give way above him, slivers rained down into his hair and he held his breath. Martin dragged the chair closer....closer.....then he grabbed it and leapt away from the door, holding the chair up.

The worm broke through the door and and darted at Martin. It's mouth opened to launch a second, teeth filled tube of a mouth at him. He brought the chair down on it and hard as he could and the worm crumpled under the force. It's mouth had latched onto the chair though and Martin had to let that go. 

With the worm down Martin ran to grab his phone. His plan was basically now to get to safe place and then call Jon. When he turned around, phone now safely in his pocket, he saw the worm was no longer dazed. It moved towards Martin, mouth open and hissing, and Martin let it get into his room before smashing a lamp down on it. Now that it was dazed again he hurried to run out of the bedroom and firmly close the door behind him. He stacked up some furniture in front of the door before finally pulling his phone out to call Jon.

It took Jon two rings before he answered with a grumbled "Hello?"

"JON! Jon, there's- there's giant worms in my flat!" Martin shouted, feeling his voice crack in terror.

"What?!"

"I got one trapped in my room. I think there must be an anomaly or- or something! I don't know! Just get everyone over here!" Martin urged, speaking as fast as he could.

"Good lord. Yes, yes, I will. I- what sort of giant worms?" Jon asked and even though it really wasn't the time for questions Martin chose to answer as fast as he could.

"I- I'm not- with the fog and- and everything I think they're Precambrian? If there is an anomaly, which I don't know what else could _possibly_ be-" 

"Right. Right, okay. I'll call Tim and Sasha. We'll be there soon. Stay in your flat." Jon's voice was deadly serious.

"Thanks, Jon." Martin said, truly very grateful.

Jon hung up without a word, which Martin chose not to be insulted by. This was an emergency, there was no time for politeness. Martin also wasn't planning on staying in his flat. The door was broken and there was a worm in his room, it absolutely wasn't safe. Besides, it occurred to him that if these really were Precambrian worms then this must be Precambrian fog and without the fog the worms probably wouldn't do very well. So he was going to find the building's ventilation controls and flush the fog out.

He found a baseball bat that he'd kept around in case of burglars, yanked open the remains of his door and stepped out into the hall.

There was more fog in the hall and the fire alarm was still blaring, which was irritating, but it seemed free of worms and he didn't see any people so Martin assumed everyone else had made it out of the building. Or at least, he hoped they had. The sound of his footsteps muffled echoes through the fog was a little eerie, and Martin really wished the other were there with him. But they weren't so he focused on his trek to the stair. He had to make it to the basement and the elevators were probably a bad plan. He really hoped there weren't any worms on the stairs.

This thought was interrupted by a worm jumping up through the fog at him. Martin shrieked and swung his bat at it. It was enough to knock the worm to the side, but it still moved toward him so Martin brought the bat down on it's head a couple times before kicking it until it stopped moving. He had no idea if he had killed it or just stunned it, but he found he didn't really care as much as he maybe should've. Sure, it was an innocent creature doing what it needed to to survive, but....so was he.

So Martin sucked in and much of the heavy, rotten air as he could and continued on his way. After that close call he kept a better eye out for worms hiding in the fog swirling around his feet. The way continued to be clear though and he made it to the stairwell. He stuck his bat through the door and when nothing latched onto it he stepped through himself.

He only made it a couple steps down before a worm dropped from the above him and latched onto his shoulder. Martin screamed and scrambled to get it off of him. It's teeth were like little razors digging into his flesh and he felt them tear and cut through his shoulder as he shoved the worm to the ground. The air stung his open wounds and without thinking Martin raised his foot to stomp the worm. It latched onto his ankle though, teeth just as sharp as before. With another scream Martin grabbed the railing near the wall and used the worm's momentum to kick it over the other railing. The worm's weight dragged it down, but it didn't let go. Martin kept his grip tight as the worm tried to pull him over the edge with it. Then the teeth slide through his flesh and the worm fell away. Martin didn't breathe until he heard the thud of it's body hitting the floor below.

He pulled his foot back and slowly let go of the railing, standing again. Both his shoulder and ankle throbbed painfully, but he still had a job to do so he took a breath and limped forward. This was, perhaps, the worst fucking day Martin had ever had.

He made it down two flights of stairs without further incident. One more floor until the basement, where the fog was so thick he felt his head spin from the lack of oxygen.

A couple limping steps more and sure enough another worm darted out of the fog. It latched onto Martin's already injured ankle and the pain was just to much for him and he collapsed to the ground. The worm was apparently thrilled by this result because it started pulling Martin's leg into it tube mouth, it's teeth sunk in enough to hurt and to prevent him pulling away. Martin could feel the slick acids eating through his pants and into his flesh. He screamed and tried to reach for the bat that had fallen from his hands and rolled away. It was to far. He tried to kick at the worm with his other leg, but that didn't stop it. He screamed again, this time with rage. It wasn't fair that he would die like this!

Then out of nowhere a knife plunged into the worm, stabbing it over and over until stopped moving. Martin watched, eyes wide, he didn't really process what he was seeing until the worm was dead and Jon was already working to cut it open to peel it off his leg.

"I told you to stay in your flat." Jon snapped, which shook Martin out of his shocked trance.

"I know. Thanks for...." Martin gestured at the dead worm.

"Oh, of- of course."

His leg had been fully freed and Jon offered him a hand up which he gladly accepted. Once Martin was stable on his feet, though wow his whole leg felt like it was on fire, he turned to Jon and raised an eyebrow.

"A knife though?"

"They wouldn't let me have a gun." Jon actually blushed.

Well, horrific pain and near death or not, that was something to smile about, so Martin did.

"Can't imagine why." He teased.

"Shut up, Martin."

And that made Martin laugh. Jon clearly tried and fail to not smile, which just made the joy bubbling up in Martin even more intense. He was alive and Jon was adorable, what more did he need, really?

"What was your plan? To just get out on your own? We weren't that slow getting here." Jon asked, still smiling slightly.

"Not quite. The worms probably can't live without this fog, right? So I figured I would mess with the ventilation until it cleared out." Martin explained.

"Such a well thought out plan that you decided to risk your life for." Jon shook his head.

"It's a fine plan!" Martin defended himself, still smiling.

"Of course. Now where is the ventilation system? I assume the basement?" Jon looked around before taking a step toward the final set of stairs that would lead to the basement.

"You're going to come with me?" Martin asked, kind of surprised.

"Well, I'm not leaving you to die on your own." Jon said it like it was obvious.

"Oh. Thank you." Martin said that far softer than he'd meant to, but he was suddenly feeling a lot of things about how Jon seemed to actually value him.

"Of course."

~

Jon had been trying really hard not to like or get attached to Martin. Tim too, it was to late with Sasha though. The reason for this was the odds of horrible gruesome death as they chased down the secrets of the universe was fairly high. Apparently Jon hadn't done a very good job at not getting attached though because he was extremely shaken and distressed by the fact that if he'd been any slower gathering the others and coming her then Martin would've died. He was also very worried about how much thicker that fog got as the descended the steps into the basement because surely that meant there would be even more worms. He was worried about himself of course, but he was also probably more worried about Martin. The poor man was already injured, facing down more worms was the last thing he should've been doing.

The fog was also very hard to breathe and Jon wondered if this would hurt their lungs at all. He really hoped not.

The basement wasn't unusual, concrete walls and floor, wires and stuff running along the ceiling. The dim light and the thick fog meant he couldn't see any worms, but he could hear them moving around. He gripped his knife tight.

A worm did dart out at them, but Jon stepped in front of Martin and stabbed it. It squealed in pain, which was a deeply unpleasant sound, and hurriedly dove back into the fog to flee.

"This is much easier with two people and a knife." Martin said, smiling weakly.

"I don't doubt it."

"Right. Well, we're almost there. It's just through this door-"

Martin opened the door and they saw several worms moving slowly throughout the room, not paying them any mind. Jon was pretty sure the peace wouldn't last for long though and a plan formed in his mind. It was admittedly not the best plan he'd ever had, but if Martin was quick with the controls it would be fine.

"I'll- I'll distract them. You get to the controls."

"What? Jon-"

Before Martin could protest Jon ran into the room and started stabbing at worms. Sure enough they all rushed forward to attack him for invading their space. One latched onto his leg and he stabbed at it, but it's teeth weren't designed to let go so even once dead it's razor sharp grip on him was strong. Another grabbed an arm. Jon kept stabbing and kicking and punching and the worms kept biting and tearing and hissing and he was covered in worm guts and his own blood which he felt pulse out of him in time to his heartbeat. One grabbed his neck and he scrambled to get it off, fear that it had pierced something important rushing through him.

His knife was knocked out of his hand and that arm was quickly pulled into a worm's mouth. A leg went the same way. He screamed as the acid bit into him. This had been a horrible plan and he couldn't even see if it had worked, if Martin was at the controls. Jon found that while many regrets rushed to his mind in what he was sure was his final moments....He did not regret possibly befriending Martin. And Tim too he supposed. Though dying first would render his concerns in that area null.

Then a whirring noises started up and the fog was pulled from the room, replaced with fresh air. Jon happily breathes it in, mouth open to suck as much air as he could into his mouth, before he closed it quickly when the worms around him started to explode.

After a few moments the worms were all gone and he was covered in grim, blood and worm guts, but he was alive. Somehow, he was still alive.

"Jon! Jon, are you alright?!"

Martin rushed to his side and hurried to help him sit up.

"I'm- I'm alive!" Jon managed to say. 

Then some combination of blood loss, shock and sitting up to fast had him passing out in Martin's arms while he shouted in alarm.

Jon woke up on a stretcher outside an ambulance and people patched up his wounds. A quick glance at his surroundings told him that Martin and Tim were both being patched up as well, though they weren't on stretchers, and Sasha seemed unharmed. So Jon let himself relax and let the EMTs work.

That had probably been the worst morning ever and Jon had survived it. Not only that, he'd come out of it with a new appreciation for his team. He quietly decided he was going to try and be....a little more lovely to them and to try and accept the friendship he'd been offered.


	5. Chapter 5

Because of their injuries it took about a couple weeks for Jon, Martin and Tim to be allowed back to work. It was the longest week of Jon's life. It was maddening to no be able to continue working on the anomaly detector. He kept texting Sasha for updates on her progress but by day four she had stopped telling him anything.

During the weeks it also became clear that Jon, Martin and Tim would all have scars from the whole experience. Jon wasn't sure how he felt about that. It was a mark he'd survived, yes, but it was also proof of how close a call it had been. He would stare at the still healing gashes in his neck in the mirror daily, thinking about those moments when death seemed inevitable.

So it was a relief to get back to work and focus his energy back on the detector. Jon never wanted to know about an anomaly near a team member so late again. Sasha tried to get him to lighten up a bit with attempts at conversation and Jon did try to go along with that, he still refused to to truly focus on anything outside of the detector. When he heard her roll her chair over to him he braced himself to at least try to be personable.

"So....My end's pretty much done. You?" She asked.

Jon just felt relieved that she was talking about the project. That was much easier than actual conversation!

"Really? I'm close. Just....." Jon trailed off, focus shifted back to his work already.

"Here's a question....You were worried about Tim and Martin." And now Sasha wasn't talking about the project. Great.

"Yes." Jon replied shortly.

He glanced up and saw she was grinning at him.

"Do you, perhaps, have friends now?" She teased.

"I had friends before." He tried to defend himself.

"Jon, your only friends were me and your ex and we were barely friends before all this. I'm proud of you." Sasha said sincerely.

"Yes, I've become attached to people who will likely die horribly. How wonderful." Jon deflected, not wanting to deal with actual emotions thank you.

"That's an extremely depressing way of looking at it." Sasha crossed her arms.

"It's realistic." He defended.

"Is it realistic? Or are you just being an ass?" And she did have him there.

"When am I not?" He countered.

"You can be sweet."

Jon had to laugh at that. Sweet wasn't really a word one would use to describe him at all ever. It was ridiculous. Sasha rolled her eyes, but she smiled too.

"Okay, fine, you're kind of an ass all the time. And yet we all still like you! I'm glad you can admit to having friends, Jon." Her smile turned to kind and Jon had to look away.

Sasha giggled a little and rolled back to her desk to continue fine tuning her work. Jon really hoped he was just being pessimistic and that he wouldn't be losing any of his team any time soon. Their collective survival seemed extremely unlikely, but what could it hurt to hope?

The next few hours passed quickly and silently. Then the 999 alarm rang out and he and Sasha leapt to their feet. Their phones dinged with a text from Tim detailing what they'd be dealing. Jon stomach turned when he read the words 'massive spider'. He had yet to regret working for the ARC, even when he was almost eaten by worms, but in that moment he wished he were someone else somewhere else.

"Damn. How massive do you think?" Sasha asked.

"I would prefer _not_ to think about it." Jon said, gathering his equipment quickly, but not as quickly as he had done previous.

They didn't need more data to complete the anomaly detector, but it would still be foolish to pass up a chance to study an anomaly.

"Oh yeah, forgot you don't like spiders. Will you be sitting this-"

"I'm coming." Jon interrupted Sasha before speed walking out the door.

The sooner they left the sooner it was over with after all.

Once they were all at the van Jon saw that Tim looked more serious than he was used to him looking. It made sense, he supposed, that almost being eaten by worms would do that to someone. Martin on the other hand look positively excited.

"Do you think these spiders are venomous? I mean most are, so probably. Except the Uloboridae family, of course. I don't know how big the spider is, but if it's from the Carboniferous period then it could be truly massive! The high amount of oxygen in the air would let anything grow to-" Martin chattered happily as they climbed into the van.

"Martin, please stop." Jon begged.

There was only so much information about the horrible things he could take and his stomach was already churning.

"What? Oh, do you-" Martin's eyes widened a bit.

"Please." Jon pleaded.

Thankfully, it was enough to make Martin stop. The lack of spider talk was nice, but at the same time Jon's own imagination now conjured up all sorts of grotesque images of what sort of massive spider they'd have to face. Flinging himself out the door and into traffic was a pretty tempting thought all things considered.

They arrived at the farm house they'd gotten the call from and Tim went ahead to clear the people out of the house. Jon tried to focus on deep breathing, but all to soon Tim was back.

"Okay, so they saw it when they were going into the crawl space so that's probably where it is. Jon, you're staying in the basement, see if the anomaly is anywhere up there." He announced.

Jon nodded, relieved that he probably wouldn't actually be seeing any massive spiders this trip. He knew Tim was just pitying him, but there was nothing wrong with accepting a little pity every once in a while.

They filled into the house and hurried to the basement. The entrance to the crawl space was a square panel cut out of the floor of the laundry room. Sasha, Tim and Martin wasted no time dropping through it and Jon wished it felt a little less like this was probably the last time he'd see them. Probably he was being pessimistic, like Sasha said.

"Good luck." He called after them.

"Thanks, Jon." Martin called back.

"Stay safe up there!" Sasha smiled at him.

"Don't get to bored up there!" Tim joked, which gave Jon something to roll his eyes at.

"Hilarious." He said, dryly.

And with that they wandered off into the crawl space in search of the massive spider. Jon sighed and decided to go find the anomaly. His skin felt like it was crawling with a billion tiny spiders and he steadfastly ignored it and he looked around.

The laundry room had been through a door directly across from the stairs that had led into the basement. There were two more doors, one on each of the remaining walls of the square landing and Jon decided to choose one at random for a bit of fun. 

The one on the left opened to a large, dark room, filled with all sorts of nonsense and glowing in the corner was the anomaly. Lucky guess. So switched on the light, which unfortunately was dim and flickering, and set up his equipment. He also spotted an axe leaning against the wall and grabbed it just in case.

Ten minutes into monitoring the anomaly he heard a thump. Jon grabbed the axe and started looking around warily. The crawling sensation on his skin intensified and he could hear his heart thudding.

He slowly used to axe to nudge aside a large piece of plywood leaning up against something draped in a tarp and felt his heart almost stop when a spider scuttled out towards him. It was as big as a large fucking dog!

Jon screamed and hurried to hit it with the axe. It leapt toward him and he scrambled backward in a panic before bringing the axe down on it again and again well past the point where it as stopped moving. It took a few minutes, but he did manage to calm down.

He looked over the thoroughly dead spider and laughed a bit to himself. It was massive and horrible, yes, but it hadn't really taken much to kill it. He was fine!

Then he heard some more movement and he slowly looked around, dread filling him as he saw so many spiders crawling out of the piles of objects. Each of them was the size of the dead one or in some cases were even bigger. Jon turned to look at the door, but the way was blocked by even more spiders. He started breathing far to fast and he raised his axe.

~

The crawl space was cramped. The floor wasn't even a floor it was dirt and there was only room to, well, crawl. Hence the name, he supposed. It was also dark and holding a torch while you crawled around was more difficult than Martin would've thought. Not a fun place for a human, but it was perfect for a giant spider. But even though Martin liked spiders....being in the dark, cramped, dusty, dirt filled crawl space made him a little less enthusiastic about the whole mission.

Sasha gently nudged him and interrupted his train of thought.

"Sooo, Tim told me something interesting the other day." She said.

Tim laughed and Martin felt himself blush. He was pretty sure he knew where this was going.

"Can we just focus?" He tried.

"Even if Tim hadn't told me I probably would've figured it out. It's pretty obvious you're into Jon." Sasha grinned at him through the dark.

"Oh god." Martin groaned.

"Oh, don't worry! He's oblivious to feelings, other's and his own, there's no way he'll ever know so your secret is safe from him." She hurried to reassure him.

"Oh. Good." Martin said.

He didn't feel that reassured though. Overall he felt a little disappointed. Sure, he knew he didn't have a shot with Jon, but it was nice to hope.

"It's really adorable though!" Tim piped up.

"God, so adorable! Your face whe-"

"Can we _please_ focus on the spiders?!" Martin snapped, face burning.

"Fine." Sasha raised a hand in mock surrender.

"No, I wanna talk ab- Is that one?" Tim shone his torch a up ahead of them and to the left.

For a brief moment Martin sees a spider the size of a large dog, but it quickly scampered away from the light, posture defensive.

"Fuck. That's a big spider." Tim said.

"He's adorable!" Martin defended the poor thing.

"What should we do with it?" Sasha asked.

"Blow it up?" Tim suggested and wow wasn't that a bad idea on so many levels.

"No!"

"We're not blowing anything up in a crawlspace." Sasha said, overlapping Martin's protest.

"We could herd him into the basement and trap him there until we find the anomaly?" Martin suggested.

"Yeah, that's probably a better plan." Tim conceded.

"It seems afraid or the light. We can use that to herd it." Sasha said.

Finally agreed on a plan they dimmed their torches and spread out, eyes having adjusted to the dark enough to keep an eye on the shape that was the spider. They then slowly used to light to move it forward towards the crawlspace entrance. It was slow work, but they managed it. Martin wasn't sure how they were going to get the spider out of the crawlspace, but that became much less important when they heard Jon screaming above them.

"Oh no...."

"That's not good."

"Hurry!"

Martin, Tim and Sasha abandoned they spider to climb out of the crawlspace. Martin felt dread weighing on him. They shouldn't have left Jon alone, that had been a horrible idea and now he was probably being eaten by some horrible thing. Or maybe he'd just seen a spider, though that seemed unlikely with the amount of screaming happening.

When Martin finally pulled himself through the crawlspace entrance and ran to where Jon's screaming was coming from he was surprised and horrified to find Jon being completely swarmed by the giant spiders. They were trying to push him to the ground and he was fighting them off with an axe. Martin wanted to feel sorry for the spiders, but they probably would've killed Jon if not for the axe so he felt no pity for them. Jon was more important.

"Jon!" Sasha shouted.

"Jon, they're afraid of the light!" Martin called before throwing Jon his torch.

Jon caught the torch and quickly used it to clear the spiders away from him. They parted and hissed, like they'd been magnetically propelled away. Jon walked through the swarm to reach Martin, Sasha and Tim before they all formed a wall and herded the spiders back through the anomaly. The one in the crawlspace was likely still there, but it could be taken care of later.

Once all the spiders are through Jon collapsed to the floor, breathing heavily. Martin rushed to his side, panicked that something had happened, that Jon had been injured without his noticing.

Quickly looking over Jon revealed that he was not hurt, just in shock which was a massive relief.

"He's fine, I think. I'm going to get him to medical." Martin said before pulling one of Jon's arms around his shoulders and pulling him to his feet.

"Sasha and I will take care of the rest of the spiders." Tim said.

Martin tried not to notice just how close and warm Jon was while he walked him up the stairs and out of the house.

"I'm never going to change your mind about spiders, am I?" He joked.

"No, probably not." Jon laughed, strained.

It was still a beautiful laugh that made Martin's heart race.

A few days after the spider incident Elias pulled Martin aside to have a word with him. Martin was nervous, sure he'd said or done something wrong and now he was going to lose this weird, dangerous, but oddly well paying job. And job aside the whole Peter thing just made him kind of afraid of Elias. Once the door to Elias's office was closed behind him Martin had to start deep breathing to control his spiraling thoughts.

"Martin. I wanted to tell you first and then you can tell the rest..." Elias started.

"Tell me what?" Martin asked, trying not to let his voice squeak.

"We've managed to expand a bit. We have the beginnings of a menagerie. Now, of course, we'll want to get as many animals back to their proper times, but if that proves impossible....well, best to have a place to keep them, don't you think?" Elias said in his weird, smooth voice.

Martin's fear evaporated replaced with tentative excitement. A menagerie....He could spend his time at the ARC actually taking care of animals. He suddenly wanted that very badly.

"Oh! Y- yes!" Is what he said instead of all that.

"Of course, we'll need someone to be in charge of the menagerie and I can't think of anyone better for the position than you. What do you say?" Elias smiled at him sharply.

"Of course! Yes! Thank you! Can- can I go tell the others now?" Martin didn't even care that Elias was being weird and creepy, this was the best possible news and he wanted badly to share it with the team.

"Of course, Martin."

Martin left the glass walled office as quickly as he could, not wanting to spend any more time around Elias than he had to. He was getting a menagerie and Jon and Sasha were going to turn on their anomaly detector for the first time! The day was shaping up to be pretty great.

Martin hurried to the lab to share the good news and to see his friend's hard work finally come to fruition. Once he opened the lab door the others greeted him happily.

"Martin!" Tim grinned.

"Finally." Jon rolled his eyes, but there was no bite to his words.

"What took you?" Sasha asked.

"Elias wanted to talk to me."

All three made a face at that, Martin didn't blame them.

"Are you okay?" Sasha asked.

"I'm fine. Better than fine! We have a menagerie and I've been put in charge! Not that that means a lot right now, we don't have any animals and if everything goes well we won't, but I've missed caring for animals so much!" Martin grinned as he spoke.

"Awesome!" Tim cheered.

"That rules!" Sasha grinned.

"Yes, congratulations." Jon nodded.

His friends sharing in his happiness was he didn't quote know how to wrap his head around. And on top of that Jon smiled at him and it made Martin feel just so soft. Sure, Jon didn't and probably wouldn't even return his romantic feelings, but even onesided love was precious and worth savoring. But he still didn't want the spotlight of everyone's attention on him for to long.

"Well, that's my news. Have you turned the detector on yet?" Martin asked, shifting the focus.

"No, not yet." Jon said.

"We were waiting for you." Sasha said.

"I'm here now." Martin said.

They were all grinning with anticipation. The energy in the room felt almost electric.

"That you are. Sasha?" Jon turned to her.

"Ready!" She announced.

They both turned to the anomaly detector. To Martin it looked like an overly complicated computer with five screens, three down the middle and one of each side, connected by a lot of wires. There was a keyboard in front of the bottom middle screen. Sasha and Jon looked at each other, Sasha grinning and Jon smiling, before they hit a button together. The screens light up and after a second they display a map of London.

"Of course, we'll be expanding it's reach-" Jon started to explain, but trailed off as he frowned at the middle screen.

There was a red dot blinking away.

"That's rather close to us...." He muttered.

Jon zoomed the view in and Martin felt his heart sink. As much as he wanted Jon and Sasha's hard work to have payed off, he also really hoped it was glitching. Because the dot was blinking directly over the ARC.

" _Really_ close." Tim said.

"That's not good...." Martin muttered.

"Tim, Martin, get everyone armed. Sasha and I will-"

"We'll get everyone who can't fight out of the building." Sasha finished for Jon.

"Yes." Jon nodded.

"Right. C'mon, then." Tim said, lightly slapping Martin's shoulder.

The two of them hurried out the lab and started speed walking toward the weapons room. They glanced around as they moved and Martin didn't see anything that would indicate a rough dinosaur or an anomaly sighting. Just Elias's mercenaries wandering about like they did every day.

"Do you think it was a false alert?" Martin had to ask.

"Maybe," Tim shrugged, "I don't wanna chance it, though."

"Right, yeah."

They're in the elevator when the screaming started. The screaming and crashing and occasional gunfire sounded like it was above them, which wasn't good.

"Probably have time to grab a weapon before it gets down here." Tim said, shifting side to side on his feet.

"What about the people up there?" Martin asked, stomach churning.

"Just have to get those weapons fast."

Martin had the horrible realization that whatever was up there the guns hadn't stopped it yet, not to mention he and Tim had no idea what they were up against. They had no idea how to fight whatever was attacking the ARC.

The elevator doors open to the sight of several mercenaries shouting orders at each other and pointing weapons at the stairs. Martin and Tim took a few hurried steps forward before they were stopped in their tracks by what they saw.

Some sort of lithe black creature leapt from the wall onto a mercenary, it's teeth sunk into the flesh of their neck, it's claws of which there were two long ones on each elongated hand. It's head was bulbous lumpy with three nostril slits and no eyes, it's mouth was wide and full of needle like teeth. It's spine arched upwards before the body tapered off and split into two legs with tiny clawed feet. The similarities weren't much but it reminded Martin of a Xenomorph.

The thing leapt from person to person, teeth and claws swiftly ending their lives. The mercenaries shot at it, but it was quickly then them as it dodged their bullets and continued through them like a hot knife through butter.

Tim snapped out of his shock first and Martin felt himself be pulled into a room, mind still trying to make sense of what he'd seen. He snapped out of it once Time shut the door and he hurried to help barricade the door.

Once everything they could possibly shove against the door is a part of the barricade Tim whirled to face Martin.

"What the fuck was that?!" He hissed, arms waving wildly.

"I have no idea!" Martin hissed back.

"Aren't you the fucking creature expert?!"

"I don't know what that thing was, Tim!!"

"Fuck!!" And with that Tim leaned against the wall and slide down it, head in his hands.

Martin watched him for a moment before he remembered Jon and Sasha with a jolt. He pulled out his phone and rapidly texted them. When he received no answer he began to panic. It was to easy to remember how that thing had killed all those people and pictured Jon or Sasha in their place.

"Oh god, they're dead. They're dead! They're-"

"They're not dead!" Tim snapped.

"You don't _know_ that!" Martin shot back.

"You don't _know_ that they're dead!" Tim argued.

Before Martin could reply there was a scratching at the door. He and Tim's eyes were drawn to it, Martin felt his fear somehow triple. He tried to breath as quietly as he could. That thing hadn't had eyes so it hunted through either sound or smell. Martin really hoped it wasn't smell.

~

Once the screaming started Jon found it pretty easy to duck away from Sasha in the chaos. He felt a little guilty for leaving her behind and god he hoped she would be fine, but he needed to find that anomaly and he knew she would've disapproved.

People, mercenaries and people who's jobs Jon absolutely didn't know rushed around, screaming, looking for weapons or escapes. Jon had no idea what could've been causing such a panic and he really hopes nothing kills him.

In the main room he looked up and through the glass walls of Elias's office he saw the anomaly in all it's glittering glory. Jon wasted no time running up the stairs, pushing past less and less people as he got closer to the office door. When he finally pushed through the door and stood in front of the anomaly he hesitated. What on earth even was his plan here?

Then Peter stepped through the anomaly. Jon stepped back, startled. Peter smiled once he saw Jon and then, without a word, he stepped backwards through the anomaly again. Jon knew it was a bad idea. He knew he should've been helping his friends, but....they had handled almost every previous incident just fine without him and there were plenty of mercenaries around now so it's not like they needed him. And besides, what were the odds he would get another chance like this to question Peter? So he stepped through.

The other side of the anomaly was fairly similar to what he'd seen the first time he'd stepped through one and he felt himself relax. His team knew how to take care of a Gorgonopsid and he was sure anything less would be a piece of cake.

Peter was sitting on a rock a few feet away. Jon marched up to him, trying very hard to seem intimidating. Judging from Peter's amused smile he wasn't scared at all though.

"Who are you?" Jon asked, fists clenched at his sides.

"What makes you think I'm going to answer any of your questions?" Peter shot back, still smiling slightly.

"You wanted me here, didn't you?" Jon pointed out.

"That I did." Peter nodded.

"So answer me. Who are you?" Jon demanded.

"I'm Peter."

Jon really wanted to strangle Peter.

"That's not what I meant." He said through gritted teeth instead.

Peter just hummed pleasantly, which was even more irritating. Jon needed answers and if Peter wasn't going the give them, or even do anything, then what was the point of bringing him here? To taunt him? To laugh at him?

"How do you know Elias?" Jon tried.

"Oh I knew him _years_ ago. We were quite close. Not so much these days." Peter answered and shrugged.

Finally, he was getting somewhere.

"Why not? Does it have to do with the ARC?" Jon asked.

"In way." Peter smiled again.

"How do you travel freely through the anomalies? How are you not lost or stuck in the past?" Jon was pretty sure he wasn't going to get much more about Elias so he asked another burning question.

"That would be telling. I will give you this though, there was another anomaly here and I closed it for you before opening this one. I think something may have gotten through though, sorry about that." Peter did not look at all apologetic.

Jon was shocked at his words though. The idea of controlling anomalies....It seemed impossible, but then....so did time travel once upon a time.

"You- you closed an anomaly? And then opened another one? How?!" Jon demanded, taking a step forward to try and seem at least a little more intimidating.

"You're quite clever, you'll figure it out. Or maybe you won't. Time is quite malleable, you know." Peter leaned forward as he spoke, grinning.

"What, if I do something in the past it'll change the future?" Jon asked.

It made sense, but this had been something he'd been trying not to think to much about.

"It depends on what you do. The results aren't exactly predictable, we are playing with time on quite a large scale after all." Peter shrugged.

"I am not _playing_ with time." Jon spat, offended at the choice of words.

"Oh, yes you are." 

~

The scratching continued. Martin was sure he was about to die, but he wasn't really focused on that. The question that plagued him was what was this thing that was going to kill him. It had moved in a way that kind of reminded Martin of a bat, a wingless bat, but it was the size of a person. The more Martin thought about it though, the more similarities he could draw between it and a bat. The nose, the clicking sound it made, the structure of it's torso and limbs....But he was also sure that there had never been a bat ancestor even similar to that creature found.

The anomalies connected the past to the future though....could one open to the distant future? Could that be what bats became?

The scratching stopped suddenly and the creature let out a screech before they heard it jumping away. Martin and Tim waited in the silence, hardly daring to breathe while they made sure it was gone.

Without a word Tim crept forward and started moving things away from the door. Martin hurried to help him, wanting to get as far away from that thing as he possibly could.

Once the door was clear Tim slowly pulled it open. The stench of blood hit Martin like a brick. Sure enough, when he looked through the doorway he saw carnage. Bodies were torn apart and split open all over the place, spatters of blood coated the walls. Martin's stomach churned and he really wanted to vomit. He started deep breathing to calm himself down, but that only made the copper smell more intense.

"Grab a gun." Tim whispered.

Martin nodded and followed Tim's lead in picking a gun off a body. It was sticky with blood and it hadn't helped the dead man, but Martin still felt better having it.

Tim motioned for Martin to follow him and started to slowly make their way up the stairs, keeping their eyes peeled for the creature and carefully stepping around bodies. The blood made his shoes want to stick to the ground and he worried that the sounds of their footsteps would attract it. But it never showed, thank god.

They got to the main area and Tim froze when he looked down the hall leading to the lab. Martin felt his blood freeze in his veins when he did the same. Sasha was walking down the hall alone and above here on the ceiling was the creature. Martin saw when Sasha spotted them and quickened her pace, the creature tensed ready to jump.

With a shout Tim fire at it. Sasha jumped and squeaked in alarm before looking up and freezing, eye gone wide. Martin joined him in firing at it. It screeched and dug it's claws into the ceiling before launching itself down towards them, leaving deep gouges behind. martin felt his heart stop as it flew towards them, but the force of their bullets slowed it down enough that it landed a few feet away from them.

"The anomaly is is this way! Can you get it to go towards it?!" Sasha shouted, pointing up towards Elias's office.

Sure enough, through the glass walls there was the anomaly. Martin briefly wondered where Elias was.

"No idea!" Tim shouted back.

Martin had an idea though. He started backing towards the stairs and the creature followed. It screeched and shied away from their guns, but it was still set on killing them it seemed. So they lead it up the stairs.

At one point it jumped onto the ceiling and screeched at them, claws carving through the metal like it was nothing. They used this chance to get behind it and they herded it towards the anomaly. Eventually the thing just seemed to give up and it launched itself back through the anomaly.

Martin sighed, tension leaking out of his shoulders. They'd done it. They'd gotten that thing back where it belonged. He leaned against the wall, legs not wanting to take all his weight. Sasha and Tim laughed as well, throwing their arms around each other in celebration. Then something occurred to Martin and he felt his blood go cold again.

"Where's Jon?"

That made Tim and Sasha freeze as well. They turned to look at Martin, dawning horror in their faces.

"I think he left with everyone else." Sasha said, voice showing how much she didn't totally believe that.

"You think?" Tim asked, his voice high pitched.

"That doesn't really...." Martin started, voice trailing off as his fear grew.

"Sound like him? Shit." Sasha finished for him.

"You don't think he was on the other side of the anomaly, do you?" Tim asked.

Martin and Sasha didn't answer. It was incredibly likely that Jon had gone through the anomaly, and it was incredibly likely they'd just sentenced him to a gruesome death.

"Fuck." Tim gave voice to what they were all feeling.

~

"Why can't we trust Elias?" Jon asked.

"Does he seem trustworthy?" Peter answered.

Jon was getting really tired of Peter non-answers. Their entire conversation had been like this, Jon trying to get answers and Peter saying vague nonsense. He was beginning to really regret following Peter through the anomaly. It didn't seem like the man had anything valuable to say. Jon opened his mouth, about to say as much, when something came through the anomaly.

It was some sort of screaming almost humanoid creature running on it's tiny feet and massive clawed hands. It screeched at Jon and dove at him, but before it could reach him, Peter pulled out a whistle and a high pitched noise filled the air. It was so sharp Jon had to clamp his hands over his ears.

The creature obviously hadn't been a fan either because it screeched even louder before it ran off at an alarmingly fast pace.

"What was that?!" Jon turned to Peter and demanded.

Irritatingly, Peter stilled seemed calm as ever. He let the whistle drop back around his neck and he took a lazy moment before he answered Jon.

"It doesn't have a name, not really. There aren't people around to name things by time they happen." Peter shrugged as though he hadn't just dropped a bombshell.

"Wh- you mean it's from the future?" Jon asked, his mind spinning.

"Of course." Peter calmly confirmed.

The anomalies went to the distant past, why wouldn't they also go to the future? But also Peter had just implied that humanity at some point will go extinct. Of course, Jon knew logically that it wasn't unlikely that they would either destroy themselves or a random space event would take them out, but to have that confirmation that one day they truly would all be dead, that humanity won't continue into the stars forever....it was a bit much. And it was quite depressing. Although, who's to say humanity won't abandon this planet for the stars? Perhaps a foolish hope, but Jon decided to cling to it.

Then another thought hit him.

"Then is can't be here! It's going to change things, that what you said-" Jon said, his voice grew more frantic reflecting his feelings.

"If you want to chase after it by all means...But I assure you it would tear you to shreds and then it would still be here and you would be dead. There's only one so I doubt It'll change anything to drastically. Maybe small things, perhaps stop signs will be purple now, perhaps nothing you'd ever notice changes." Peter interrupted him.

That brought Jon up short. He'd been picturing some drastic life altering change, different coloured signed would be nothing.

"A- a future predator loose in the ancient past can change the colour of stop signs?!" He asked incredulously.

"Possibly. Before I started traveling the symbol for poison was different." Peter shrugged again.

"What?!"

Now Jon really wanted to know what the symbol had been before. The malleability of time was still terrifying, but the examples Peter gave were absurd. If Jon were more reckless he would want to test it, to mess around with the past just to see what would happen. But that seemed ill-advised to say the least. Plus, then he would truly be playing with time like Peter had said.

Overall the trip to the past hadn't been a total waste, Jon supposed. He'd learned that Elias and Peter knew each other _somehow_ , that it was possible to open and close anomalies, that meddling in the past truly would change the future, that humanity would no longer exist on the Earth at some point in the future, that life on the planet would continue without them, and that the poison symbol had once been different.

Jon wondered if perhaps when things like that changed.....did it split time into a new timeline? Or did was there only one timeline and once something was changed the previous version never existed? Were parallel universe a part of this somehow? He had more questions than ever, but he knew Peter likely didn't have the answers he wanted.

"You don't really have time for anymore questions, Jon. The anomaly is destabilizing." Peter broke Jon out of his thoughts.

Jon turned and saw that it was indeed flickering. Still, he hesitated. A part of him wanted to hunt down that thing and make sure it couldn't change anything.....And a part of him wanted to keep questioning Peter to see what other information he could get out of him. But mostly Jon wanted to not miss his chance to go home. So he walked towards the anomaly. He glanced back at Peter while he braced himself to step through.

"Don't worry, I'll find you again." Peter said, voice almost smug.

Jon really didn't like they way he'd said that, but he also couldn't afford to waste anymore time. He stepped through the anomaly.

The first thing Jon noticed on the other side was the the anomaly seemed to be in a storage closet. The second thing he noticed was Tim and Martin pulling him into a hug. They both smelled of blood, which was concerning, but they seemed fine. Jon let them hug him for a minute while the anomaly flickered closed behind him. That really had been much to close of a call. Then Jon pushed out of their embrace so he could look at them. They had blood on them, but neither seemed to be bleeding at least.

"Holy shit, Jon! We thought you were dead for sure!" Tim said.

"Sorry about the uh the hug." Martin apologized needlessly.

"It's fine." Jon reassured him and he blushed a bit.

Martin was kind of a blushy person it seemed.

"Are you alright? Did that thing attack you? How did you get away from it?!" Martin asked, wringing his hands together.

"I'm- I'm fine. Peter was there, he had a whistle or something. I- where's Sasha?" Jon had to ask, it seemed odd she wasn't with the team.

Tim and Martin looked at him blankly and Jon felt his stomach drop.

"Who?"


End file.
